Soccer: Riverside Christian falls in OT

SUMNER — Riverside Christian may have surprised themselves by reaching the Class B state semifinals, but once they did, the young Crusaders were determined to not waste the moment.

They did just that against a team that routed them during the regular season before falling one loose ball away from reaching the title match.

Instead, it was St. George’s advancing when Evan Furbeyre cleaned up a free ball in front of the net and booted it home 2:31 into the first overtime to give the Dragons a 3-2 victory at Sunset Chev Stadium.

“We are the underdogs,” said RC midfielder Derrick Byrne, who scored both Crusaders goals. “No one expected us to be here, so we had nothing to lose. We just wanted to leave it all on the field.”

“Getting crushed by them (5-2) during the season … was motivation for us,” said defender Matt Shuel, who assisted on Byrne’s first goal.

In the end, the Crusaders (13-9) fell just short and will face Shoreline Christian for third place this morning. St. George’s (16-3-1) will meet Tacoma Baptist for the title.

“We can still get third and that would be our best finish ever. We just have to keep our heads high,” Byrne said of a program that has just one other state semifinal appearance, a fourth place in 2005.

“The difference this time was their mentality,” coach Mark Emmans said of the rematch with St. George’s. “The guys were ready to play and they rose to the occasion.”

After twice rallying to tie the match and force overtime, Riverside Christian was unable complete the comeback. St. George’s Gerhard Muelheims took a pass on the left wing and raced toward the goal. His hard shot was stopped by goalie Loren Button, but he wasn’t able to gather the ball in. It rolled just far enough away to allow Furbeyre to race in and kick it past the scrambling Button for his second goal of the match.

Riverside Christian’s first comeback came in the waning seconds of the first half when Shuel booted a free kick from near midfield about 40 yards in the air. Byrne got his head on it about 15 yards out, deflecting it past goalie Jordan Dickson.

Byrne rallied the Crusaders again in the second half when his low, hard shot from about 30 yards out skipped in front of Dickson and squirted past him and into the net with 15 minutes left in regulation.

Unfortunately, that would be the Crusaders’ final comeback of the night.

“We may not be playing for the championship, but third place would still be quite an achievement,” Shuel said.

First half: 1, St. George’s, Gerhard Muelheims, 32:00; 2, Riverside Christian, Derrick Byrne (Matt Shuel), 39:00.

Second half: 3, St. George’s, Evan Furbeyre (Muelheims), 58:00; 4, Riverside Christian, Byrne, 65:00,

First overtime: 5, St. George’s, Furbeyre, 83:00.

Saves: Jordan Dickson (SG) 4, Loren Button (RC) 5.