By Greg Bates
Correspondent
SUAMICO – For the first time since 2014, the Bay Port boys’ soccer team won a Fox River Classic Conference title.
Needing a win or tie in the final FRCC match of the season, Bay Port scored a late goal to tie De Pere, 2-2, Oct. 15 at Bay Port.
“This is a sweet five years we’ve been waiting on,” 15th-year Bay Port coach Travis Herber said.
Sophomore Payton Schilz was happy he was able to help Bay Port nab the title.
“I’m only a sophomore, but it’s good,” said Schilz, who scored the game-tying goal late in the second half. “I could have gone with a win because it would have been much better, but I can go with a tie.”
Winning conference is a step in the right direction for the program.
“It’s a big boost to the program, especially with the kids coming up,” Herber said. “This could be something special in the next couple of years where we could be a team to be reckoned with in the conference.”
Bay Port trailed 2-1 with 12:18 remaining.
“We’ve been in these situations before, but these kids don’t blink,” Herber said. “They have the confidence in themselves, and I’ve got the ultimate confidence in them they’ll find a way to push through. The whole year we have not lost. Have we been in positions where we should have lost? Probably but we find a way – we’re resilient. We’re going to work hard for 90 minutes until the game stops.”
With the Pirates pressing to notch the game-tying goal, there was a scrum in front of the De Pere goal.
The ball squirted out and Schilz was in the right place at the right time to tap in the goal.
“The keeper was off his line and wasn’t able to get the ball,” Schilz said. “I used my body to get in the way to poke it in – otherwise, he was going to dive on it.”
Bay Port took an early lead when Ryan Amond beat the outstretched arms of De Pere goaltender Jack Rosner.
Four minutes later, at 35:52 of the opening half, Bay Port goalie Bryce Destree came out of the net to get a loose ball and Charlie Eggers beat him to the punch to tie the game at one.
The Pirates went almost 67 minutes between its two goals.
“De Pere started to play some long ball,” Herber said. “When that happens, it puts us on our heels because we have to run back a little bit.”
Deep into the second half, De Pere (6-1-2 FRCC) had a free kick, as Owen Spang put the ball into the box.
The ball was loose and Ezra Johnson poked it in for a Redbirds lead which lasted only 2 minutes and 20 seconds.
Bay Port will now turn its attention to the postseason.
It earned a No. 1 seed in the WIAA Division 1 playoffs and will host No. 8 Appleton East.
De Pere was seeded third and will welcome Appleton West to town.
Both matches are Oct. 22 at 7 p.m.
“We’ve got a tough schedule with Preble and Kimberly in the second round, so we’ve got to prepare for Appleton East,” Schilz said. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us.”
The Pirates, still undefeated at 14-0-4 this season, are going into the postseason with some momentum.
“These kids are hungry,” Herber said. “They want to leave their mark on Bay Port’s history. As I understand, we have not been to state since ’92. Our regional doesn’t have a team I feel we can’t beat. Even when you go to sectionals with teams like Eau Claire Memorial and Hudson, which we might see in the sectional finals, I feel good we can possibly get to state.”