Sports
Beckham's Late Goal Lifts Zumwalt West Past Timberland
Senior's eighth goal of the season gives the Jaguars a 2-1 win over heartbroken Wolves.
O’FALLON–Soccer aficionados have a term for how the first half was played during Tuesday night’s MSHSAA Class 3 District 4 semifinal game, between visiting and host at West’s Hoekel Stadium.
It was "blah." Almost nothing happened. Neither team gained any type of advantage. And there was virtually no excitement at all in what many expected to be an exciting playoff matchup between two of the GAC South’s most competitive teams.
“We like ‘blah,’” Timberland coach Tim Shearin said. “We really do like it to be kind of ‘blah’ out there. That’s how we play. We want it to be tough for the other team to score.”
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The second half on Tuesday began with all kinds of fireworks, as both squads scored in the 90 seconds of the second period, setting up a thrilling 40 minutes of play that would send one team to the district championship game and the other one home for the winter.
And thanks to a brilliant score by Zumwalt West’s Steve Beckham with less than 10 minutes left in regulation, it was the Jaguars that survived and advanced with a 2-1, nail-biting win over the Wolves.
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“We’re pretty excited,” Zumwalt West coach Sean Baldwin said. “I thought we played our game really well. Even though we gave up kind of a cheap goal, I thought overall, we played pretty well.”
Beckham’s goal came on a seemingly "blah" kind of play, with the Jaguars simply chasing a loose ball in the Timberland end.
But somehow, the ball found its way to Beckham, who’d managed to get in front of the Timberland net, and blasted a shot past Wolves goalkeeper Jonathan Herberger, for his eighth goal of the year.
“It was amazing and, honestly, I don't really remember it,” Beckham said. “I just remember getting the ball and shooting it. I didn't watch it go in. I was aiming low corner, and I thought it felt right. I just turned, thinking it went in.”
It did, and it gave Zumwalt West its 15th win of the season.
More importantly though, the victory advanced the Jaguars to Thursday’s district championship game, against top-seed Francis Howell High, which earned its trip to the title game with a 1-0 win over Troy (MO) High earlier in the night.
“I think they're one of the most dangerous offensive teams in the St. Louis area,” Baldwin said of Francis Howell. “We have to show up if we want a chance to win it. I think we're good enough to do it.”
The Jags were certainly good enough on Tuesday to hold down GAC South leading scorer Jack West.
The speedy Timberland striker was held in check by Zumwalt West, except for the penalty kick score he blasted home to tie the game at 1, after the Jaguars’ Stephen Kline gave his team the lead some 40 seconds into the second half.
West had broken free inside the Zumwalt West goalbox and was taken down from behind by a defender.
Officials awarded West a penalty kick on the play, and he buried past Jag goalkeeper Ethan Pashia, for his GAC South-leading 22nd goal of the season.
“It was kind of boom, boom, boom,” Shearin said. “They got one real quick. Then they took Jack down. We got the PK, and he buried it. And suddenly, it wasn’t ‘blah’ anymore.”
West’s goal was especially fortunate for the Wolves, who didn’t have many scoring chances Tuesday night.
Even with the league’s leading scorer stalking the Jaguars’ net, Zumwalt West refused to give him any more chances to hurt them.
“They had four kids on Jack all night,” Shearin said. “He gets one chance, gets taken down and makes a penalty shot. That’s a tough way to end the season. But we had a good run.”
Timberland ends its year with a 14-10 record, and as co-champion of the GAC South this year, which is rather remarkable considering the Wolves suffered a three-game losing streak earlier in the year, and were 4-5 midway through September.
“I’m proud of these kids,” Shearin said. “I thought we had a good year.”
Thursday’s district championship game between Zumwalt West and Howell will be played at Hoekel Stadium and is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.
Scoring Summary
Score by Half
F
Timberland
0
1
1
Ft. Zumwalt West
0
2
2
First Half
No scoring.
Second Half
FZW: Stephen Kline (2)–39:21
Timb: Jack West (22)–38:43
FZW: Steve Beckham (8)–9:58