Region I quarterfinals round on Tuesday.
And although the Dragons held steady for a scoreless first half despite the Marauders’ many offensive attacks, Carroll could not keep its opponent out of the net in the second half in a 2-0 loss that ended the Dragons’ season.
“I thought it was a great first half,” said Carroll coach Greg Oglesby, whose team fell to 22-4-3 with the loss. “They’re an outstanding team. I felt like we could beat them.
“We would have to have one of the better games we’ve played and be sharp in all phases, which we were until we let a guy get free on that one cross.”
That first goal, which put Marcus (22-3-3) in the driver’s seat, came when Chad Caldwell got ahead of the defense down the center of the field. Marauder teammate Randy Wright found him free and passed it from the right side, as Caldwell put the ball past Carroll goalkeeper Lou Manning with six minutes, 29 seconds gone by in the second half.
Marcus added to their lead just under 17 minutes later, as a 50-yard kick by Eric Frazier was misplayed by Manning and floated high above him and into the net. The Marauders were able to defend their 2-0 lead for the final 16:44 of the contest.
“He just made a mistake,” Oglesby said of Manning’s second goal. “But, hey, we didn’t score any goals, and we made plenty of other mistakes that he bailed us out from.”
Carroll’s run to the regional quarterfinal was an improvement over last year’s performance, when the 5-5A district-champion Dragons fell in the first round to Hebron.
This year, Carroll, which finished second in district, did more than last year despite injuries that slowed senior forward and leading scorer Edgardo Padilla and kept senior midfielder Bob Miltenberger out of contests for the second half of the season. Miltenberger suffered a torn ACL early in the district schedule.
“The kids played their hearts out,” Oglesby said. “I’ve been moving players around to different positions. We’ve had two, three or four devastating injuries this year, of kids that have played with us for a long time. Starters – good, strong players. It’s just been one of those years.
“We’ve won 22 ballgames with kind of a patchwork lineup over the last month, month and a half of the season,” he said. “That’s just a tribute to the kids just working hard and being flexible.”
Get the full version of this article and full Southlake news at www.southlakejournal.com.
.jpg)
