Shaw falls late to Union Grove in Class 5A state playoffs

The Shaw High boys soccer team, playing its first playoff game in 13 years, dropped a close 4-3 decision on Tuesday night at Kinnett Stadium.

The Raider roster took an immediate turn as starting goaltender Donny Carter suffered an injury just a few minutes into the game. Shaw coach Andrew Oropeza had to pull attacker Alan Bayon off the field and into the net on an emergency basis the rest of the game.

“(Donny) is, in my opinion, the best keeper in the Bi-City area,” Oropeza said. “We had to pull one of our best attackers, who scored 18 goals on the season, and put him in the goal, but he did an admirable job. He’s got a little background.

“I feel if Donny’s in the goal, things might be different. We may not have won, but it would have definitely changed the game.”

Bayon was tested immediately as Union Grove put a shot to the net, with Bayon making a diving save to keep the game scoreless. The Wolverines challenged Bayon just a few minutes later, but the Shaw goalkeeper made two big stops on the doorstep.

Shaw opened the scoring on a free kick from Jimmy Barrera, looping the ball over the head of Wolverine keeper Eric Nunez for the 1-0 Raider lead.

Union Grove answered later in the first half with an unassisted tally that surprised Bayon and trickled into the net. Later in the half, a nice lead pass and score put the Wolverines up 2-1 before the Raiders answered back.

Barrera sent a long pass into the goal area, finding Christian De Anda, who then tipped a pass to an open Esteban DeJesus to knot the score at 2.

Union Grove reclaimed the lead at 3-2 with a goal on a nice cross-field pass to end the scoring in the first half.

Both teams alternated a goal each in the second half. Shaw briefly re-tied the game at 3 as De Anda capitalized on some confusion on a corner kick. DeJesus took the corner, tapping it a few yards to De Anda, who rifled a shot past Nunez for the last Raider goal of the match. The official goal tally was delayed approximately 5 minutes as officials discussed the play.

“There was a little confusion on if it was a goal kick or corner, and our guys took advantage and put it in,” said Oropeza.

Union Grove took advantage of a mishandle by Bayon to tap the ball into an open net for the final margin of victory.

Despite the loss and elimination from the postseason, Oropeza was upbeat after the match. The Raiders’ future is bright as Shaw returns all but five players, only one of whom was in the starting lineup this season.

“Last year, we went 11-4 and barely missed the playoffs on (penalty kicks),” he said. “The goal has always been to get in the playoffs; it’s been 13 years, and we got in. We’re kind of the hidden secret in Columbus. We’re right there. We just have to get past this level of the first round of the playoffs and moving on.”

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 9:11 PM with the headline "Shaw falls late to Union Grove in Class 5A state playoffs."