The expectations of a return trip to state carried a lot of pressure and weight for this year’s Perry soccer team. Saturday afternoon, their load got a lot lighter. For the second consecutive year, the Bluejay soccer program qualified for the state tournament after defeating Dallas Center Grimes 2-1 in a 2A Substate Final at Dewey Field.
For the second straight game, junior winger Ivan Garcia gave Perry the early lead on a long range kick at the 24th minute. Fifteen minutes later, Jesus Rodriguez delivered a dagger as he followed up on an initial DCG save and put the ball in the net with just 23 seconds left in the first half. Perry led 2-0 at halftime and the Jays started to feel some of the pressure shift a little bit.
“German (Alvarenga) set me up with a perfect pass and the Mustang goalie actually made a pretty good save on my first shot,” said Rodriguez. “I saw there was going to be a rebound opportunity so I just kept going to the ball and I was able to beat him on the second attempt. We are taught to keep going to goal and always follow your shot and that’s what I did.”
Dallas Center Grimes scored early in the 2nd half to make it a one goal game but Perry held on in the final minutes to secure the win.
“We changed our style quite a bit in the second half,” Rodriguez added. “The final 20 minutes we were all defense. We took a more defensive approach and kept our forwards back a lot more than we’re used to. We didn’t take as many chances offensively and made them earn everything in the box.”
Perry senior Oscar Chavez was a part of the state runner up team last year and says it feels even better this year.
“Oh, it feels so good right now. The second time was definitely better. This just proves that last year was not a fluke. We had some really solid foreign exchange students last year but this year’s team proves that Perry can produce some really good soccer players too. It’s a real satisfying feeling.”
Perry goal keeper Jorge Soto was put to the test all game long. Soto finished with 12 saves on 13 shots and thought the proverbial monkey on the back was lifted Thursday night in the semifinals.
“I definitely sensed our team felt the pressure of getting back to state. I thought it flared in the semi-final win Thursday night. We just didn’t play very as the pressure got to us a little bit. I thought we were way more relaxed today and scoring the two first half goals allowed us to relax and have fun again.”
Perry will travel to the Cownie Soccer Complex Thursday afternoon as the five seed and take on the four seed Central Clinton Dewitt at 2:45 pm.
“This is a little bit of a different feeling,” smiled the Perry goal keeper. “Last year was a little nostalgic with Perry qualifying for the first time. This year there was a feeling of accomplishment and pride when you realize you’re going to state. Perry’s going to state again…it’s surreal. The feeling is amazing and you can’t beat it.”
