The Cambridge Bears Boys soccer team found themselves on the short end of a 5-3 overtime loss to the Chattahoochee Cougars last Wednesday, April 19th.
It was a loss that had players, coaches and fans alike shaking their heads as they left the stadium. Many were confused over what appeared to be several scandalous calls that possibly altered the outcome of the game. Coach Wallace said "I'm going to have to go home and sit on my porch and think about this one for awhile." Wallace went on to say "However, we need to be careful. The referees do the best they can and we need to recognize that, and only we can control the outcome of our games. We did not match Hooch's intensity in OT and missed opportunities to finish twice. At the end of the night we just didn't get it done."
The Bears found themselves down early 1-0 before Sid Marupudi scored the equalizer to tie the game 1-1. It was Sid's first varsity goal of his career. With 7:46 left in the half Jabar Obeid found the hammer and nailed the ball into the back of the net to give the Bears a 2-1 lead headed into the half time locker room. The nations 12th ranked team didn't waste anytime in the second half scoring just 5:12 in on a nice chip into the upper 90 by the Cougars to bring the game even again at 2-2. Not to be outdone, the Bears stayed aggressive and found the lead again at 3-2 when Ethan Rose scored on a PK from a foul in the Bears box.
The Cougars were then given what appeared to be a gift, as one of their players shot the ball from 20 yards out, hit the cross bar of the goal and ricocheted down to Bears goalie Mitch Hardgrove for the save. However, to the surprise of both teams and the fans, the line judge ruled the shot a goal, tying the game at 3-3. When the horn sounded at the end of the half, the game was headed to OT. The Bears couldn't seem to find there rhythm in overtime and gave up two goals to Chattahoochee to lose 5 to 3.
After the game a frustrated Diego Zarate, who had to pick himself up off the green pitch after suffering a bloody nose and cut lip said, "We just need to move on from this and work our way through the playoffs and hope we see them again along our journey to the state finals."
Coach Wallace added "We need to put this game behind us as we play the region 5 seven A winner Longhorns from Lambert on Friday, and I will really be interested to see how our team responds Friday night. This was the Bears first loss in 8 games and snapped their record 6 game win streak.
Cambridge travels to Lambert on Friday night, April 21st for their last regular season game of the season.
