Northwest sinks hosting Bearcats

The Bearcats fell to 1-1 in district 5-5A action (7-2-4 overall) following a 3-1 loss to the visiting Northwest Texans on Friday, Jan. 27.

For head Bearcat Derek Vierling, Friday’s match on the pitch was a tale of two halves.

“The second half was much, much better,” Vierling said emphatically after the game. “That first half was very uninspiring, so-to-speak. They played well in the second half. A couple freshmen stepped up. We met in the locker room and got it sorted out. I thought we played well in the second half. Even with 10 men, we played well.”

The reference to 10 players harkened back to the 31:09 mark in the second half. Trailing 2-1 the Bearcats worked deep in their own territory to clear the ball out as Northwest advanced their attack. Hunter Waugh collided shins with a Texans player with an impact that echoed through the cold night air.

Both players rolled around on the turf writhing in agony as several moments passed. With assistance from the training staff Waugh was able to get back to his feet as he hobbled towards the sideline. As the Northwest player continued to lay on the ground and the Texans coaches Waugh was given a red card, leaving the Bearcats with just 10 players throughout the remainder of the contest.

“It’s unfortunate Hunter got the red card,” Vierling said. “At worst it should’ve been a yellow card. But, we’ve got to overcome that.”

Trailing 1-0 for much of the first half, the Bearcats got on the board when Cole Crawford drove home a penalty kick for his team-leading ninth goal of the season with 3:23 remaining before halftime.

With just less than a minute remaining in the first half, Northwest regained the lead. Goalkeeper Zach Taylor dove to his left to block a shot from the Texans with 56 seconds remaining on the clock. The ball ricocheted off the upright, shot all the way across the goal before ricocheting off the other upright and ultimately finding the back of the goal.

The Texans added their third and final goal of the match with 31:09 left in the contest as Taylor attempted to block a penalty kick. He managed to get a hand on the ball, changing its trajectory. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to deflect the ball away from the goal as the score put the Bearcats down by two goals.