Louisburg ties Baldwin in Wildcats’ third overtime match of season

Louisburg senior Cade Gassman weaves through the midfield Thursday against Baldwin in Louisburg. The Wildcats and Bulldogs tied, 1-1.

The Louisburg boys soccer team has found itself in its fair share of overtimes matches this season, and it happened again Thursday.

Louisburg hosted Baldwin in a Frontier League matchup, and for the third time this season, found itself in a double overtime match. As for the result, the Wildcats had their second tie of the season in a 1-1 draw with the Bulldogs.

The Wildcats are now 3-4-2 on the season, but they hope all this extra time on the pitch will be beneficial at the end of the season.

“We’re still keeping sight of the bigger picture — the whole season,” Louisburg coach Bobby Bovaird said. “Overtime games are helpful for us in the long run because it means we’re having to battle extra hard, not only during regulation time, but also in those extra minutes of overtime. Our long-term goals include accomplishments in the post season, and we have to be able to play hard the whole game. 

“Having three overtime games means we’re getting ready for those games. Win, lose, or tie, I’m trying to get the guys to recognize the fact that we’re staying competitive. Against Baldwin, I think we showed that we’re continuing to improve and build from our previous games.”

Baldwin opened the scoring early in the first half as Caleb Carr put the Bulldogs up 1-0 six minutes into the match and took that lead into halftime. 

The Wildcats made a switch in the lineup as well as senior Gavin York moved from forward to outside back. Bovaird then pulled up senior Jackson Olson from outside back to outside mid and moved sophomore Emmett White to forward.

“Gavin has played left back for his club team, and it’s something I’ve been considering for a while this season,” Bovaird said. “He’s comfortable in the back, and with that comfort comes a great deal of confidence. He’s got the second most goals for the team this season, and he’s tough as nails on defense, so it’s a risky trade-off. I think we’ve got some younger guys like Emmett White who can step up and get some goals, and Gavin is providing some excellent leadership in back.”

The Wildcats kept attacking and tied the match up with 28 minutes remaining in regulation.  

Louisburg senior defender Matthew Sword had a free kick from midfield and sent the ball into the box. The pass went off a Baldwin defender and into the goal to even the score.

“I don’t think we could have asked Matthew to have a better free kick than the one that went in off the Baldwin player’s head to even up the score,” Bovaird said. “We had more possession in that game, and I love how the guys responded to the physicality of the game. While it was one of those games where it could have gone either way on any given night, the guys showed a ton of heart with how they played.”

Several Wildcats got shots off on the night as White had three shots on goal to lead the way. Senior Toby Espina-Roca had two shots on target.

York, Andrew Brown, Cade Gassman, Colin McManigal and Matthew Sword also had a shot on goal.

Senior goalie Brecon Klugman allowed just the one goal and had 10 saves on the night, including two in the overtime period.

Louisburg will try and bounce back today as the Wildcats host Spring Hill. The match is set to begin at 6 p.m.