The Bearcats men’s soccer team suffered two losses this week, both in Region games, and both after the hardest of play and by the smallest of margins.

Last Tuesday night the Bearcats (2-3-0) traveled to Thomas County Central  to play the Yellowjackets (6-0-0), where they lost 4-2.

Last Friday night the Bearcats hosted the Harris County Tigers (2-3-1).

Starting for the Bearcats offense were Angel Munoz, Gino Pallotti, Joe Emmons, Cesar Chiguil, Kendall Glover and Nix McIntosh. The Bearcats defense again consisted of Team Captain Ben Mulkey, Tom Emmons, Andru Matthews and Adam Pascal, with Matt Hall in goal.

The Bearcats were evenly matched in this game, with the battle going back and forth across Centennial Field. The defenders held off multiple runs on goal with amazing plays by Tom Emmons and Andru Matthews, who appeared to be everywhere the Tigers offense went.

The Bearcat offense also had multiple runs on the Tigers goal, with numerous shots on goal by Angel Munoz, Gino Pallotti, Kendall Glover and Joe Emmons. But after 40 minutes of grueling play the match remained scoreless.

The second half resumed with an offensive onslaught by the Bearcats which offered them a corner kick in the 46th minute of play. Gino Pallotti launched the ball from the corner into the goalie box where midfielder Nix McIntosh powered the ball into the goal past the Tiger defenders.

The grueling fight went back and forth with the officials often losing control of the game. Numerous times their bewildering calls led to raucous disagreement from the Bearcat fans.

In the 65th minute of play the Tigers evened up the score when the Tigers offense slipped one past the Bearcat defense.

Going into overtime for the second time this season, the Bearcats almost won it in the first overtime period when Munoz had another break away run but his shot just missed the goal by inches.

Going into the second overtime period still tied up, the Bearcats and Tigers both fought feverishly for the winning goal but luck was not on the Bearcats side. With just two minutes to go the Tigers took the lead. The Bearcats fought back but with less than two minutes on the clock a tying score was not meant to be. The final score was Tigers 2, Bearcats 1.