GAINESVILLE -- Chestatee boys soccer coach Mike Herrin had seen that look before from junior Roldan Reyes.
So when Reyes took control of a loose ball at midfield in a scoreless tie with Allatoona with 15 minutes left in the two teams' Class AAA first round match Thursday, Herrin knew better than to look away.
Reyes did not disappoint.
Reyes began with a spinning dribble, splitting two Buccaneer defenders, then snaked around two more defenders before launching a low shot that bounced off the goalkeeper right to Christian Felix -- who booted the ball past another defender trying to protect the goal for the only score in a 1-0 Chestatee win at War Eagles Stadium.
"He just gets this aura around him at certain times and then big things happen. I saw it when he got that ball. I knew something was going to happen," Herrin said. "Christian finished the play but Roldan is so talented he just does things out there that I haven't seen in too many other players. He's special. We're fortunate to have him on our team."
Reyes said he felt he had to do something or face the uncertainty of overtime.
"I didn't want to go to overtime. I practice (the spin move) every day and it just worked out. It was a great feeling when Christian got the goal for us."
The score came after 65 minutes of counter-punching with Allatoona and then the Chestatee defense made it stand up with several stops in the final minutes.
The biggest stop came with 9:50 left in the game when Chestatee keeper Michael Herrin punched away a rocket shot from 19-yards out and then covered up a rebound. Herrin stopped two more shots over the next 90 seconds and then the War Eagles survived two wild corner shots in the final minute to hang on.
Chestatee appeared to have put the game away with less than two seconds left on an empty-net goal by Marco Rebollar but they were called for offsides. After a discussion, the referees put seven seconds on the clock and gave Allatoona the ball at midfield. A long pass was intercepted by the War Eagles 20 yards out and booted out of the zone to preserve the win.
The goal helped shake off a couple of bad bounces for the War Eagles when they had two shots hit the crossbar but not go in.
"This was a huge win for us because we've only gotten to the second round one other time (in 2007)," Herrin said. "You only get a couple of breaks each game so we were hoping the two shots that hit the posts weren't all we were going to get. We felt like we would get some more chances and fortunately we did.
"It was a great match. Both teams played well and had chances. But honestly, it's about time we've gotten back to the second round. We're ready to keep going."
The win moves Chestatee (12-7-1) into the second round against Mary Person, who upset Americus-Sumter 4-1 Thursday. The War Eagles have never advanced past the second round in boys soccer. They'll get their chance on Tuesday when they play host to the Bulldogs on Tuesday at a yet to be determined time.
The first half was a physical affair with two yellow cards awarded and more than a dozen fouls called. But neither team was able to crack the scoreboard.
Chestatee had the first scoring chance when Reyes hit the left post on a 20-yard blast in the third minute of the game. That came after the War Eagles had a direct kick from 30-yards out that was wide of the goal.
The War Eagles staved off a corner kick by the Buccaneers in the 10th minute and then put on a barrage of their own five minutes later. They peppered Allatoona keeper Adi Vrskic with a four-shot flurry in a 30-second span but could not find the net.
In a two minute span at the midway point of the first half Chestatee also had a corner and a direct kick from just outside the box but could not convert.
Following a breakaway with just over 12 minutes left in the half that Herrin stopped, the Buccaneers' appeared to take the lead on a goal but it was waved off for offsides.
The offenses really came alive in the second half as both teams tried to exploit the defenses. The War Eagles once again had a great scoring opportunity with a two-on-one breakaway four minutes into the half but Felix's point-blank range shot hit the crossbar and bounced out inside of down. They followed with a corner two minutes later but also could not convert.
The Buccaneers had another chance five minutes later to grab the lead but Herrin snatched a header out of the air. Allatoona also failed on a corner one minute later as the War Eagles cleared a loose ball in front of the goal.
Herrin would keep the game scoreless with a beautiful save on a header from 10-feet away on an Allatoona indirect kick with 20 minutes left. Less than 30 seconds later the War Eagles would earn another corner but again could not convert as the Buccaneers cleared a low shot.
The War Eagles' Zico Rebollar narrowly missed on a 25-yard shot after some nifty dribbling through three defenders with 18 minutes left.
Tuesday
February 4th, 2025
2:51PM
