On a night dedicated to honoring the senior class, Republic’s soccer team put together a solid performance to go along with it. The Tigers pushed undefeated Rogersville (20-0) into overtime before falling 4-3 on a sudden-death goal by the Wildcats.
Republic’s Isaac Vermule opened the scoring at the 29:05 mark of the first half, assisted by Diego Zuniga, giving Republic a 1-0 lead. But a Republic own goal evened the score, as a free kick by Rogersville around midfield deflected into the net amid a player scramble, tying the score at 1-1.
At 17:20, Republic had an opportunity to take the lead after a foul in the box, but Rogersville’s goalkeeper, Brady Goodson, denied Brayden Tharp’s penalty kick, preserving the tie.
Rogersville’s Jason Bevzyuk found the mark at 15:15, putting the Wildcats ahead 2-1. That was the score at halftime.
Republic responded with Kleber Perez scoring at 26:41, leveling the score at 2-2. Perez beat his man on the left side of the box and slide the ball past Goodson.
After Rogersville took the lead again with 17 minutes remaining, Republic’s Diego Zuniga scored the prettiest goal of the night. At 7:36, he beat his defender, looped the ball across the face of Goodson left to right, and tucked the ball into the right side of the net, bringing the score to a 3-3 tie, which persisted through regular time and into overtime.
In the first overtime, with just 3:10 left on the clock, Rogersville found the winning goal, clinching the victory and keeping their record spotless. Republic fell to 9-12.
Before the game, Republic honored seniors Mason Cole, Kleber Perez, Brayden Tharp, Will Brock, Xavier Ulshafer, Santino Stiglianese, Mikey Argo, Dakota Thompson, and Cooper Davis. After the game, coach Jesus Zuniga complimented the seniors for the lasting mark they’ve left on the program.
“What they mean to the program, each teammate, and each coach would take a novel to summarize, as they each have their own flavorful personalities but also showed up to work this summer, and you can see it,” he said. “It hasn’t always gone our way this season, but the strides this group has made in a year is unbelievable.”
And beyond the contributions on the field, Zuniga said he’s enjoyed getting to know all nine seniors off the field since arriving in Republic before the 2023 season.
“I’ve had the pleasure to get to know several of them outside of soccer and have had great conversations about not only the game, but also life with them,” he said. “I trust them because I believe in them. Not one of them complains about minutes, but just want to play a role on a team we know is doing something special.”
Republic has played better than its 9-12 record indicates. Of the Tigers’ 21 matches, six have gone into overtime. Republic is 1-5 in those matches.
Despite the tough overtime loss, Republic’s soccer team looks ahead to the final week of the regular season, starting with a match at Webb City October 24.