Bears pull off second straight comeback

The senior George Slaughter was the weapon, the factor as both a scorer and a thrower that ignited Houston County High’s come-from-behind 3-2 victory in the 2016 GHSA 5A boys soccer quarterfinals over Athens’ Clarke Central High at home on Friday.

Not only did Slaughter score the winning goal with 7:32 remaining, but it was his deep throw in at the penalty box area that led to the tying penalty kick just a few minutes before. This was Houston’s second straight 3-2 win in the state tournament as three days earlier the Bears also battled from an early deficit to edge Dunwoody High on the road in the second round.

Now, Houston County soccer has a chance for the second finals appearance in school history, but needed to go back on the road to the Atlanta area on Tuesday to face Riverwood, the team that abruptly ended the 2015 season in the second round of state. All GHSA soccer finals are May 12-14 at Five Star Stadium at Mercer University.

This was also the third time Houston’s boys matched up with Clarke Central in the playoffs in the last four years, and all three encounters were taken by Jason Kirk’s club. Clarke entered the playoffs as a region No. 3 seed but had the chance to play at home in the second round, shutting out Starr’s Mill 1-0.

The offensive star of Houston’s win over Dunwoody was Michael Fussel with all three goals, and he was able to quickly get in close Friday but miss the mark at 38:50. Slaughter also rushed three minutes into the half on the right but was rejected. Fussel charged again on the same side a minute later but was disrupted.

Cristian Medina, another quick prolific Houston goal scorer, made his first charge down the center only to have his ball blocked out of bounds (Houston had two corner kicks, but Clarke cleared the ball). The Bears were still keeping the ball due to the work in the back by Derek Little and Tim Freeman.

At 29:25 Zach Rush made a pass inside to Medina, the result a foot save from the Gladiator keeper. It was a few minutes later that the Clarke offense moved the ball from side to side and got by defenders. It looked like the last stopper had Clarke at bay, but Clarke passed into position for its first shot that went in at 26:45.

It took until getting below the 20-minute mark of the half for the Bears to return to attacking position. Medina had the ball on the left side for a powerful crossing effort, but no one was there for the chip. Just a couple of minutes later Media was on the right to bash another kick across but wide.

At 15:40, Fussel’s head pass to Medina was headed out for a corner. The ball went from Heath Henry to Carlos Aguilera outside back to Medina for a shot saved.

Down to under the 13 minute mark Fussel took a 30-yard free kick, the ball going off Slaughter’s body. The visiting keeper claimed it by the left post.

As Clarke took the ball the other way, Freeman blocked a shot and Hunter Henry went to the goal line for a clearing kick. Play shifted back to the Bears side thanks to Freeman, and Slaughter began to show his strength in throw-ins. Claiming a 50-50 ball, Fussel’s pass to Medina hit a post and stayed in play.

While it was all bad luck on that Bear attacking end, Clarke made good on its only other look of the half. The first Gladiator corner kick, at 3:30, was cleared by Heath Henry and Fussel. But as Clarke kept possession, it found an open head shot to lead 2-0 at 2:55.

In those last two minutes, Medina’s pass to Rush went for a shot wide, and Houston’s goalkeeper Declan Furlough saved a shot with 41 seconds on the clock.

Furlough was also the first to make a save in the second half, that coming at 32:20. It only took 20 seconds from there for the Bears to sprint down field and get Medina’s first goal off Fussel’s assist.

Houston would stay down 2-1 for a long time, but used all the remaining time to put the pressure on Clarke Central. Freeman came up with a key stop in the box at the 31-minute mark, and Rush set up Medina on the run with the opposing keeper out of position, but the ball went wide (29:40).

Clarke, five minutes later, earned a corner kick headed out of the box by Clayton Martin. At the 22-minute mark, Slaughter was on position for a corner throw-in, but even at point-blank range Fussel couldn’t find the net.

The Bears were fortunate when, back on defense, two fouls occurred just outside the penalty box. The Gladiators had a free kick on the left edge with 20 minutes to play, and Freeman and Heath Henry played the ball out. The next foul was a yellow card on Houston facing the goal, but Clarke bashed the ball way over the target.

Furlough, at 13:40, earned a save. He also caught a 25-yard free kick at 11:10.

Even with Clarke committing almost everyone to clogging the defensive zone, Slaughter’s throw-ins started created problems. One such ball at 12 minutes to go was popped up and caught for a keeper punt. But at 10:13, Fussel was fouled going for the ball at the top of the box. He was inside enough for the penalty kick, which Medina took and tied the score.

Houston picked up its pace, Medina earning a corner (8:20) and Rush getting fouled 20 yards away. On that free kick, Freeman and Slaughter went for headshots that didn’t go.

But, it was one more Houston corner kick, and from it Slaughter did score the game-winner.

For the last five minutes, the Bears took one more corner caught in the air. Little and Hunter Henry stood tall on defense, though Clarke had a two more corner chances at 1:40, but Little cleared. Furlough grabbed a third corner out of the air, and the ball went into a fastbreak for Fussel and Medina, who hit one more post with 31 seconds to play.

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