Bergman Gets Winning Goal, Futbol Cats Win

In recent years, the Cats haven’t been able to get the W against an always very good Dominic team. This year? The Futbol Cats finished their regular season on a high note with a 1-0 win against the 3rd ranked team in the state.

The game was actioned packed filled with saves, solid hard working defense, and lots of lots of shots on goal. St. Dominic kept goalkeeper Joey Keane busy, coming out firing shots in the first 30 minutes in the opening half. The Crusaders were able to infiltrate the Wildcat defense easily in the first half, resulting in the high amount of shots taken.

The Cats were also able to create two very solid scoring chances in the first half. The first came off of a Luke Heintz corner kick. Heintz played the ball near post away from the defense right to the foot of leading goal scorer Frankie Sacco who poked the ball just wide right of the net. Minutes later the Wildcats were given yet another perfect scoring opportunity. Seconds before halftime, Patrick Claus threw the ball in towards the goal. It bounced a few times and ended up at the foot of Heintz, who shoved it just left of the keeper and it rolled out of bounds.

Going into half, Coach Smith said, “If we want to win this game we need to make some defensive adjustments.” The outside mids were not getting back in time and the Crusaders were cherry picking which created multiple opportunities for them.

At the start of the second half, the Wildcats knew that they could play with this Dominic team. The Cats went into the second half with the intensity level set to 100%.

The high point of the second half came when the Wildcats got the game winning goal from forward Erik Bergman. The play was set up beautifully. It all started on the Westminster side of the field. Patrick Claus stole the ball from a Crusader attacking player. He took two touches and dished the ball off to forward and Captain Frankie Sacco, who weaved in and out of the Dominic defense. When he got to the end line and played the ball across the goal mouth right, finding fellow senior Captain Erik Bergman open to score the game winning goal for the Wildcats.

Bergman said, “I think it might’ve been one of the most emotional moments for me in my soccer career so far.” Erik got hurt in the first game of the Futbol Cats season and has been sidelined for the past 8 weeks. “The moment that he scored was one of the most dramatic and emotional moments I’ve ever been apart of” said Senior Luke Heintz.

The Cats defense was able to hold off St. Dominic’s final minute scoring efforts and win the game. Finishing the season with an 11-10-1 record. The Wildcats are rolling into Districts with 3 straight wins against 3 tough opponents.

Districts start this coming Monday October 23. Come out to Parkway North and support the Futbol Cats as they look to carry on their winning streak and season.