Waterloo, Gibault play to scoreless tie

Defending Class 2A state champion Waterloo applied consistent second-half pressure Monday, but earned no reward in its rivalry soccer game against Gibault.

The Bulldogs pinned down the Hawks for extended periods of time and racked up 12 corner kicks. Gibault’s defense, particularly senior goalie Trevor Davis, met the challenge and the game ended in a scoreless draw before a large crowd at Oerter Park in Columbia.

It was the season opener for both teams.

“I thought we did dominate, but I tell you what, their goalkeeper had a heck of a game,” Waterloo coach Chad Holden said. “He came up with some huge saves. He saved them in there numerous, numerous times. On our corners, he’s got some height to him (6-foot-3), some good wingspan. He might have been the player of the game.”

The Hawks had a chance to win in dramatic fashion in the closing seconds. After a Bulldog foul, senior midfielder Kyle Rocca hit a blistering free kick from 35 yards away that forced Waterloo senior goalkeeper Trevor Coplin to make a strong save of his own before time expired.

“We had a chance to put one away, but it didn’t work out,” said Gibault coach Matt Reeb, who was still satisfied with the tie. “It’s a good result against a really good team. They had the better of the play at moments, so I can’t be displeased with a 0-0 tie.

“Any time you tie a rival, it doesn’t always sit great, but it’s better than a loss.”

Scace comes close

Gibault senior Dalton Scace was all over the Bulldogs in the opening 10 minutes and had the game’s first quality scoring opportunity.

In the sixth minute, Scace split a pair of defenders and was eyeball to eyeball with Coplin in the box. But Scace, who had 22 goals and 10 assists last season, pushed a shot wide right.

“His touch leading up to the shot was bad,” Reeb said. “That’s what kind of killed him. He didn’t have his setup, approach touches he should have had.

“No one seemed to quite have the last finishing touch. They had their chances in the first half; we had a breakaway or two we didn’t connect on. I think it will come in time. It’s not the first game if there’s not a few kinks to work out. ... There were nerves on both ends.”

Typical early game

Holden said the Bulldogs, at times, played the style it will take to return to the state tournament. Other times, however, he wasn’t so happy.

“I thought we played a very, very good second half,” he said. “I thought we played a pretty good first half the first 10 minutes. Then we started to see what you see in the first game of the year: a little individualism. We weren’t quite passing like we could. We talked about it at halftime, and that whole second half, we looked pretty dangerous.”

Waterloo had just one tie all of last season, a 1-1 decision against Mater Dei.

“Of course, we want the win,” Holden said. “We don’t really like ties. I guess in conference, if you need a tie, you might play for it. But in a nonconference game like this, we kept pushing numbers forward.”

The exception, Holden said, was on Waterloo’s own corner kicks. When Davis controlled a shot or came up with a loose ball, his punts were carrying far downfield, where the speedy Scace was on the prowl.

“With his speed, we would hate to see a one-on-one or an against-the-run-of-play goal,” Holden said. “But we kept going after it and it just didn’t go in for us.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 9:56 PM with the headline "Waterloo, Gibault play to scoreless tie."