Republic jumped to a quick lead at the start of the first half, then did it again at the start of the second half. But the Tigers couldn’t make either lead stick, losing to Monett 4-3 in the 2014 season opener. The game also marked the first game as head coach for David Ashby, the team’s longtime assistant who took over for Mike Hines this year.
The Tigers got off to a quick start after a long lightning delay, when Julio Quezada scored off an assist from Mitchell Heinzler less than three minutes in. Monett got the equalizing goal around the 9:00 mark of the 1st half, and the game was tied at 1-1 going into halftime.
Early in the 2nd half, the Tigers struck again, this time with Heinzler taking a feed from Quezada and driving the ball into the net from right to left with more than 38 minutes remaining.
About 15 minutes later Monett tied the score again on a penalty kick, after Republic goalkeeper Mason Michaelis was called for a foul. The Cubs took the lead just five minutes later, and took a 4-2 lead a short time later.
Republic got back into the game after Quezada scored again on a penalty kick to make it 4-3, but the Tigers couldn’t convert several late chances.
The second half got increasingly physical, as the officials let frequent contact between players go without a whistle. Coach David Ashby says his younger players need to learn from it.
“This is high school varsity soccer. This is intense stuff,” Ashby says. “They need to realize if they don’t already that this is how the games are played, and when you want to win against some of these teams that are tough, they’re not going to roll over for you; they’re not going to make it easy on you; and you have to go out and you have to scrap and you have to battle.”
The junior varsity game was canceled because of the lightning delay at the start of the night. Republic varsity falls to 0-1. They play New Covenant Academy Thursday night at home.