The Becker Bulldog boys soccer team traveled last Saturday to Rockford to take on the Rockets in the opening round of the Section 6AA playoffs. Becker lost the only regular season matchup between the two teams, 6-2, and knew going in that the Rockets would be a formidable foe. In this playoff match, Rockford used a senior dominated performance to outdistance the Bulldogs 4-1.

Playing on the turf surface at Rockford, both teams were rewarded for their hustle with several shots in the opening segment of the game. The Rockets struck first, netting a goal midway through the first half to take a 1-0 lead.

Becker had a chance to tie the game when junior captain Micah Boyer had a set piece just outside the 18 and it just missed the net for the Bulldogs’ best chance of the half.

“It wasn’t a bad half, we were against the wind and had a communication error which lead to the goal, but we played all right,” said coach Nick Crowley.

A slight tweak in the Bulldog formation lead to Rockford’s second goal, this one coming in the first minute of the second half. Becker quickly recovered, however, and for most of the half the score stayed at 2-0 in favor of the Rockets. 

The Bulldogs actually dominated possession in the second half, as the team was continually pushing for its first goal. The Rockets then caught the Bulldogs, who had pushed too many men up the field, and quickly countered with a goal to make it 3-0. 

Shortly after, junior captain Brekken Klug connected with junior Ander Alzaga to make it 3-1 with about 15 minutes left in the game. 

Knowing that they had to get two more goals to push the game to overtime, the Bulldogs committed even more men forward and created a couple of chances, but once again Rockford countered to push the game further out of reach by taking the 4-1 lead, which would hold up for the final.

“Between the speed of play on turf and the number of seniors they had, we just couldn’t cope with their energy level,” Crowley said. “It was a tough game to end a very good season on – we had a lot of players really stepping up this year.”