Stillwater boys soccer takes Suburban East title with 3-1 win over Cretin-Derham Hall
The Stillwater Ponies boys soccer team (15-1, 7-1 Suburban East) defeated the Cretin-Derham Hall Raiders (13-3, 7-1) 3-1 Thursday at Cretin-Derham Hall High School to secure the Suburban East Conference title.
The Ponies have been ranked in the top-two of the MSHSSA Coaches Poll since week two of the season, and they did not suffer their first loss until September 29, a 1-0 defeat to East Ridge.
After a 3-1 win over Irondale on Tuesday, head coach Jake Smothers decided it was still time to change something.
“We had a little bit of a lull since our game with East Ridge, so we changed formations" Smothers said. "Obviously this was a championship game, and we wanted to see how the boys responded to the change, and they did well.”
Stillwater changed to a three-back, which typically features three central defenders instead of the typical two.
“We did it for this game,” Smothers said. “A little bit because of what Cretin wanted to do, but we wanted to get out payers mentally re-engaged after having a couple weeks when everything was kind of easy for them, and then we had a tough one. Just a way to mentally challenge them.”
Stillwater scored first after Mikias Taddeas drew a penalty and Colin Vilme converted it. Taddeas spun with the ball at his feet, beating a defender and worked his way into the box. The defender, now at his hip, attempted a tackle but missed the ball.
Vilme converted the penalty off the left post and in, and Stillwater held a 1-0 advantage in the thirteenth minutes.
Vilme’s second goal came ten minutes later. Sam Chase dribbled on the right side of the top of the Cretin-Derham Hall box. It was a 3-on-2 between Chase, Taddeas and Vilme against two Cretin-Derham Hall centerbacks. Chase passed the ball behind Taddeas and right to Vilme, who struck it with his right foot, between the legs of the Cretin-Derham Hall defender and into the back of the net.
Stillwater was rolling, with most of the possession and most of the chances to that point, but the Raiders cut the lead to one just before halftime.
Diego Giles Quiroz tapped in the ball after it fell loose from Stillwater goalkeeper Derek Dopkins after a set piece.
The Stillwater defense held in the second half as Cretin-Derham Hall continued to apply pressure. Dopkins made two saves on shots from outside the box that were headed to the corner of the goal, and he made one more save with his body in a scramble after a Raider corner kick.
After holding Cretin-Derham Hall, Stillwater added its third goal. Liam Moreira ripped the ball from outside the box, and the Raider goalkeeper took one step in the wrong direction as the shot went toward goal, and he could not recover to make the save.
After a successful regular season and a conference title, Stillwater turns to postseason preparation.
“We’re going to relax a bit,” Smothers said. “We’ll celebrate a little bit tonight and tomorrow. … We’ll start focusing on some of the little things we hadn’t really worked on—set pieces, individual defending, and just getting ourselves refocused on what is going to get us going through.
The Ponies should be the No. 1 seed in Section 4-3A.
“This is exactly where we want to be,” Smothers said.
Stillwater vs. Cretin-Derham Hall
