Salado Eagles shut out the Venus Bulldogs 6-0 in the bi-district round of the UIL 4A Soccer playoffs March 24 at Waco ISD Stadium
The Eagles scored three goals in the first half and three in the second with sophomore Luke Anderson leading the team with three goals on five shots.
With the Eagles leading 2-0, Hughston Taggart made one of his three saves for Salado at the 32nd minute of the match.
Salado responded quickly with freshman Owen Stone scoring in the 33rd minute of the match to go up 3-0.
The Bulldog goalkeeper made a great save to keep Salado from quickly going up by four on a pass by Stone to Cruddas at 6:20 left in the first.
The Eagles went up 4-0 about four minutes into the second half when Anderson kicked the ball into the goal after it had ricocheted off the crossbar on a corner kick.
In the 50th minute of the match, Thaddeus Heckman raced down the field and schooled the Bulldog defender with footwork that looked like a mash-up of Michael Jackson’s moonwalk and Ali’s shuffle before putting the ball in the back left of the net to put the Eagles up 5-0.
A minute later, a shot by Caine Cruddas went over the net. Two minutes later, the Venus goalkeeper made a terrific save on a corner kick attempt to keep the score at 5-0
Midway through the second, Venus had a penalty kick at about 35 yards out, hoping for the Bulldogs’ first score of the game. But Jake Rechtfertig, one of the Salado defenders lined up just 10 yards away from the spot of the ball, caught the kick with his head to send it careening in the other direction.
Coach Jared Cruddas began to put starting players out at the 20 minute mark of the second period, but the Eagles had one more score left in their bank.
After a handball call against Venus, Rechtfertig lined up for a direct free kick with 13:47 left in the match and shot it into the top left of the goal for the final score of 6-0.
Despite there being no other scores in the remaining 13 minutes, both goalkeepers had to make saves for their teams, including a leaping one by Briton Messick with 4:32 left to play to tip the ball over the crossbar.
Messick and Taggart combined for the shut out win with each making three saves on four shots by Venus.
Anderson led Salado with three goals on five shots. Rechtfertig had one goal on one shot. Stone had a goal on two shots and Heckman had a goal on four shots.
The Eagles took 24 shots in the match. Also taking shots for the Eagles were Caine Cruddas, and Morgan Adams, three each, and Gabe Merriman, Brooks Dabney, Jett Luedecke, Andrew Gilmore, Cody Roquemore and Damonte Foster, one each.