And the Wildcats did get the two victories they sought, beating Brenham’s “B” team 6-1 in the morning and defeating Houston Stratford 2-0 in the afternoon at Woodson Field.
However, it turned out that the only goal Temple (3-0) has allowed in three games - with only four minutes left - denied the Wildcats a title shot.
A shutout of Brenham B would have given Temple 18 points and the tiebreaker edge over Brenham A and Boerne. But the combination of Temple allowing one goal and Brenham’s 3-1 win over Stephenville put the Cubs (3-0) in today’s 2 p.m. title game against Waco Midway (3-0).
Temple will battle Boerne for third place at noon at Woodson.
“We even said, ‘That goal is going to cost us,’ and it did,” Temple coach Matt Corley said. “We needed 18 points, and we got 17. The kids are disappointed (to not get to play in the title game), but they’ll be ready to go again by noon.”
Although Temple’s blowout Friday morning put it in a good position against Stratford to clinch a spot in the title game even without picking up the maximum seven points, Corley wasn’t going to take any chances.
“We told them today that we liked to get seven points out of this game and that would give us a very good chance of playing for the championship,” he said.
To help boost the Wildcats’ scoring chances, Corley moved Sam Petter to forward, giving the Wildcats a second player up front alongside senior Itai Meki.
Temple wasn’t able to convert on several early opportunities, often playing balls too late.
“We weren’t playing very well,” Corley said. “I thought we played very sloppy.”
The Wildcats were more aggressive in the final 20 minutes of the first half.
In the 28th minute Coleton Watts had Temple’s best scoring opportunity yet with a shot from 10 yards out, but Stratford’s goalkeeper charged out and made a diving block to perserve the scoreless tie.
Watts scored 10 minutes later to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead, but Corley knew his team needed to continue scoring.
Corley moved Tyler Gibson up to forward from defender for the final 20 minutes of the second half, giving the Wildcats three forwards.
“We were just trying to get that second goal,” Corley said.
Gibson delivered in the 72nd minute, knocking a header from Meki in the right corner of the goal for a 2-0 advantage.
“We just wanted to play like we’ve been playing, just try to find those outside midfielders wide and play it across,” Corley said.
Temple’s defense held the Spartans in check in the second half, allowing just three shots. The win over Stratford gave goalkeeper Brandon Stegmeyer his second shutout of the tournament.
Petter’s three goals highlighted the Wildcats’ win over Brenham’s B team. Meki, Garrett Walsingham and Andrew Minzenmayer each scored a goal, and Watts and Meki each recorded a pair of assists.
rschneider@temple-telegram.com
