Tom Artmeier gained quite a memory Saturday to take back to his native Germany next summer. Polk County likely won’t soon forget Artmeier’s turn in the spotlight, either.
Less than 30 seconds after Shelby tied its second-round state 2A playoff match with Polk County, Artmeier broke the deadlock, his goal with 2:23 remaining lifting the Wolverines to a 3-2 victory at Polk County Middle School.
The Wolverines (17-4-1) now advance to the third round of the 2A playoffs for the first time – and find a familiar foe awaiting them there. Hendersonville topped Lincolnton 3-1 earlier Saturday to set up a third-round showdown between the two rivals on Wednesday at Polk County Middle, time to be announced.
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The crowd still buzzing after Shelby’s tying goal, Artmeier, an exchange student, took control of the ball on the left wing, just outside the penalty area, following an errant Shelby pass forced in part by Polk County’s Wil Rimer. Artmeier tapped the ball past a defender, broke in on the goal and lifted a shot into the upper right corner of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
“I saw it was not a good pass,” Artmeier said. “I won the ball, the ball dropped in front of me and I made a toe shot with my left foot.
“This has been more fun than in Germany, where we don’t have playoff-type games where you drop out after you lose. This is more intense.”
Intense might best describe the pressure that Shelby (16-4-1) put on Polk County’s defense throughout the second half. Yet, led by birthday boy Garrett Weicker, fellow senior Brad Blackwell and goalkeeper Wilson Edwards, the Wolverines by and large weathered the Lions’ assault, turning aside every threat and preserving the 2-0 lead until the final 10 minutes.
Shelby finally broke through with 10:23 remaining, Tyler Cowan scoring on a pass from Josh Price. Emboldened by the goal, the Lions continued to press forward and got a rare break from Polk County, Harrison Kratzer being left alone on the right side deep in the penalty area. Kratzer took a pass from Aaron Assad and just beat Edwards to his right to tie the match, setting the stage for Artmeier’s heroics.
“They are a very good team. I thought they passed the ball extremely well,” said Polk County head coach Lennox Charles. “We knew coming in that they we had to stop those guys in the middle. I thought our defense was pretty disciplined. We had just the one major breakdown, and they scored the second goal.
“(On Artmeier’s goal), they had just tied the score, and they’re probably thinking overtime, here we go. That goal came out of us working hard. We pressured the ball, they made a bad pass and we won the second ball.”
Polk County took an early 1-0 lead when Rimer drew a foul in the penalty area 11 minutes into the first half. Jeremy Allsbrook took the penalty kick and easily converted. Shelby nearly responded with a goal 50 seconds later, but the Lions were flagged for an offsides violation, negating the score.
Edwards made a couple of diving saves later in the half to keep the score 1-0 at the break.
The Wolverines still clung to that margin midway through the second half when Rimer, racing down the left side for a ball, was again brought down in the penalty area. This time the senior took the free kick himself and buried his 40th goal of the season in the lower left side of the net, putting Polk up 2-0.
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