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Schuyler boys soccer poses with the Central Conference runner-up plaque on Saturday at Wilderness Park in Columbus. The Warriors lost to Lexington 3-1 in the final.
COLUMBUS — Schuyler soccer, following quarterfinal wins on Thursday, played its final two games of the Central Conference Tournament on Saturday at Wilderness Park in Columbus looking to return to the championship match.
The boys returned to the final following a 4-1 victory over Grand Island Northwest in the semifinals, setting up a rematch with Lexington in the final.
The Minutemen, who lost 5-1 to the Warriors last season in the title game, avenged that defeat with two goals in a 2-minute span to break a 1-1 tie in the second half for a 3-1 victory.
Schuyler girls bounced back from a 2-1 upset defeat to Seward in the semifinals with a 3-2 win against York in the third place game.
Both teams squared off against Northwest on Tuesday. The Warriors return to Columbus on Thursday for a road contest at Scotus Central Catholic before hosting York on Friday.
After a cagey start to the match, Lexington scored the opening goal in the 29th minute on a quick counterattack after winning possession at midfield.
Schuyler scored an equalizer on a goal from freshman Andrick Alarcon on a breakaway in the 55th minute.
However, the Minutemen responded with goals in the 67th and 69th minutes to emerge victorious.
“They played pretty good,” Schuyler head coach Ulises Fuentes said. “Just mistakes at the end. Mistakes get us every time.”
Schuyler freshman Andrick Alarcon kicks the ball past Lexington goalkeeper Sergio Lacar for a goal in Saturday’s Central Conference championship match at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
Lexington dictated play as the Warriors mustered just four shots on goal for the match.
Schuyler found its footing after Alarcon’s goal with the freshman in behind the Minutemen defense in the 58th minute, but Minutemen senior goalkeeper Sergio Loarca was there for the stop.
“Just continuing passing with pressure. Pressure the ball right away,” Fuentes said. “We sometimes just wait for the ball to come to us. We need to pressure to start and continuing pressure going forward.”
Lexington scored in the 67th minute on a free kick. The service fell inside the box with junior Edin Lima pouncing on the loose ball and shooting the ball past sophomore goalkeeper Marcos Gomez.
Two minutes later, Lexington junior Naelson Garcia chipped a shot over Gomez to double the advantage.
“We kind of struggled,” Fuentes said. “We basically struggled kicking the ball out of the box. We just let it bounce around.”
Alarcon slipped the shot past Loarca in the second half on a pass from senior Jose Cruz. The freshman put away his fourth goal of the season with all four tallies coming in the last four matches.
“He’s (Andrick) doing amazing. The games he play he hustles, he checks in,” Fuentes said. “He does pretty good. He moves around. I like his style. I think he has a great future.”
Warriors senior Jose Cruz passes the ball in Saturday’s Central Conference championship match versus Lexington at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
In the semifinals, Cruz and sophomore Yojan Cruz recorded braces in a 4-1 win over the Vikings. Junior Maaza Ibro, sophomore Kevyn Martinez, senior Ale Alarcon and Yojan recorded one assist each.
Jose led Schuyler with six goals in a 10-0 win over Lakeview in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Martinez, Yojan, Andrick and junior Obed Benazo netted one goal each.
Jose tallied a team-high two assists. Junior Anthony Gomez, Ibro, Martinez, sophomore David Arciga, seniors Danny Pedro and Davis Ardeano and Andrick assisted one goal.
Warriors sophomore Kevyn Martinez possesses the ball at midfield in Saturday’s Central Conference championship match versus Lexington at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
On April 9, Schuyler snapped a two-game losing streak with a 10-0 win at Lincoln Lutheran/Raymond Central. Cruz scored five goals and Andrick posted a brace. Ibro and juniors Jesus Cuevas and Gaspar Juarez found the back of the net once.
Juarez assisted a team-high three goals. Ibro, Martinez, Arciga, Ale and Jose tallied one assist.
Schuyler entered the penultimate week of the regular season with a 7-3 record.
“I hope we come back, get ready and learn from these mistakes,” Fuentes said. “We’ll come back stronger.”
Schuyler junior Gabby Rodriguez celebrates after scoring her second goal in Saturday’s Central Conference third place match against York at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
The Warrior girls fell short of their goal of returning to the Central Conference championship match after losing to the No. 4 seed Seward 2-1 in the semifinals.
Schuyler returned to the field 2 hours later against York and never trailed in a 3-2 victory.
“After this morning, we were a little flat. Just coming out and being able to get on top right away helped us quite a bit. They were able to get that second goal in the second half right away so that helped with momentum and speed,” Warriors head coach Clarissa Eloge said. “When they got their first one, I was kind of afraid we let up a bit but they did a great job and got our third one. Very happy with their performance. We got tired towards the end, but they did a good job of holding strong and getting that win.”
The Warriors were led by junior Gabby Rodriguez’s brace. Rodriguez opened the scoring in the 27th minute on a free kick. The service into the box was deflected by a Dukes defender and it bounced into goal over the goalkeeper.
Warriors junior Ailyn Angel (9) celebrates with senior Maribel Gonzalez (11) after scoring a goal in Saturday’s Central Conference third place game versus York at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
Schuyler doubled its advantage in the 42nd minute on a goal from junior Ailyn Angel. The junior scored on a cross from senior Maribel Gonzalez.
“She (Gonzalez) does a great job. She’s got speed and she can use that speed,” Eloge said. “Her leg is strong, so when she gets down into that corner she just crosses it back in. It helps us out a lot because everyone wants to be in the middle to shoot. She’s doing a great job of making stuff happen for us.”
Warriors senior Maribel Gonzalez dribbles the ball in Saturday’s Central Conference third place match versus York at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
After York scored in the 51st minute to pull within one, Rodriguez restored the Warriors’ two-goal lead with a tally off a corner kick service from junior Alyza Arroyo in the 63rd minute.
“That was our biggest struggle just finishing,” Rodriguez said. “(Saturday) being able to finish all those crosses, finishing those mistakes … that’s what we wanted. It paid off at the end.”
The Dukes snatched a late goal in the 76th minute to make it 3-2. York drew a corner in the 78th minute, but the header was shot wide for the last chance of the match.
“The first game we obviously didn’t play good at all. First half wasn’t it,” Rodriguez said. “Second half we picked it up, but Seward beat us to it. This game we wanted to come in and play how we were supposed to play against Seward.”
Schuyler junior Gissell Fuentes passes the ball in Saturday’s Central Conference third place match against York at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
In Thursday’s quarterfinal, Schuyler defeated Aurora 6-0. Arroyo scored a hat trick. Sophomore Lizbeth Hernandez, junior Gissell Fuentes and Gonzalez netted one goal.
On April 9, the Warriors defeated LLRC 10-1. They scored their most goals in a single match since 2011. Rodriguez scored half of Schuyler’s goals and Arroyo recorded a brace. Hernandez, Angel and Gonzalez tallied one goal.
Schuyler entered the final couple weeks of the regular season with a 7-2 record.
“We’ve been playing good this whole season. We’ve been doing better passes. We’ve been finishing our shots,” Rodriguez said. “That’s what we wanted (Saturday). Obviously the first game isn’t what we wanted. It wasn’t the outcome we wanted to get, but we did really good this game.”
Sam Ficarro is a sports reporter with the Schuyler Sun. Reach him via email at SCHsports@lee.net.
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Schuyler boys soccer poses with the Central Conference runner-up plaque on Saturday at Wilderness Park in Columbus. The Warriors lost to Lexington 3-1 in the final.
Schuyler junior Gabby Rodriguez celebrates after scoring her second goal in Saturday’s Central Conference third place match against York at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
Schuyler freshman Andrick Alarcon kicks the ball past Lexington goalkeeper Sergio Lacar for a goal in Saturday’s Central Conference championship match at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
Warriors junior Ailyn Angel (9) celebrates with senior Maribel Gonzalez (11) after scoring a goal in Saturday’s Central Conference third place game versus York at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
Warriors senior Jose Cruz passes the ball in Saturday’s Central Conference championship match versus Lexington at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
Warriors senior Maribel Gonzalez dribbles the ball in Saturday’s Central Conference third place match versus York at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
Warriors sophomore Kevyn Martinez possesses the ball at midfield in Saturday’s Central Conference championship match versus Lexington at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
Schuyler junior Gissell Fuentes passes the ball in Saturday’s Central Conference third place match against York at Wilderness Park in Columbus.
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