THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Skiatook High School Athletics

It was a “dog fight” at W.L. Odom Field on Friday night, but a late goal by one team and a missed opportunity by the other spelled the end of the road for the Wagoner Lady Bulldogs. Wagoner fell to the Lady Bulldogs of Skiatook 3-2 in the third round of the Class 4A soccer playoffs. Wagoner ended their season with a 16-2 record. Wagoner, which has started games slowly this season, got out on top early in this one. Bri Cox took a great cross from Molly Collins right in front of the net and rifled it past the Skiatook keeper for a 1-0 lead just six minutes into the game. “We challenged the girls to come out and play the first half tonight like we have the second half of games and they did,” said Wagoner coach Brandon Carr. “For the next 20 minutes or so we played pretty well and then we had a letdown late in the half.” That letdown resulted in two Skiatook (16-2) goals within a two-minute span. The first came at the 3:29 mark, when Courtney Eddings took a free kick from just outside the penalty area. Wagoner goalkeeper DeSha Kosmatin deflected the shot but it went down and went in for the score. Two minutes later, Alyssa Morgan dribbled toward the box, did a reverse 360 pivot that threw the defender off and knocked it in from 15 yards out to make it 2-1. Wagoner evened the score 15 minutes into the second half as Collins got a loose ball in the box off a Cox corner kick and tapped it in to make it 2-2. The momentum of the game turned later in the half when Wagoner had a golden opportunity to take the lead after Skiatook was called for a handball in the box. But Skiatook goalkeeper Kylie Wilkerson guessed right as she dove to her right and blocked Lizzy Gray’s penalty kick to keep the score tied with just over 14 minutes to play. That would come back to haunt Wagoner, as Madison Patton got a deflected pass as the defense was shifting right and went back left to score the winning goal with 6:20 left. The game was not without some controversy as Carr, not usually one to be critical of officiating, felt that Skiatook got the better of the calls in what was a physical contest. “I don’t know how many direct kicks they had just outside the 18-yard line, five or six maybe,” Carr said. “When I go back and look at the film I think we only got one call that close other than the PK. I’m not one to complain about officials, but I feel like he kind of took that from my girls tonight. Kudos to Skiatook. They did what they had to do but I don’t think the better team won tonight.” It marked the end of the line for nine seniors who were a big part of last year’s trip to the state semi-finals. “This group of seniors will be hard to replace,” Carr said. “We’ve got young girls to replace them but it’s hard to find the leadership that these seniors will take with them.”

THE OFFICIAL SITE OF
Skiatook High School Athletics

SKIATOOK PLAYS AREA SPOILER AGAIN, ELIMINATES WAGONER

NICK HAMPTON

Muskogee Phoenix | 5/5/2018

PHOTO CREDIT: Skiatook Athletics