Polk County’s post-match celebration Wednesday evening was a quiet one.
Not because the Wolverines walked away from their conference showdown with Owen with a 2-2 draw – after 80 physical, back-and-forth minutes of regulation play and 20 more of overtime, everyone was too exhausted to do much of anything.
The hard-fought matchup of the top two teams in the Western Highlands Conference and two of the best in the region ended in a well-earned tie in G.M. Tennant Stadium, keeping Polk County in the league lead and the top spot in the 3A West RPI. The Wolverines (10-0-3, 5-0-1) lead the Warhorses (8-3-1, 4-1-1) by a game in the WHC race and have full control of their conference fate with four matches remaining.
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Polk took a 2-1 lead at halftime and very nearly extended that advantage early in the second half. The Wolverine defense then turned aside every Warhorse threat in the second half to maintain that edge until 8:36 remaining in regulation, when a Polk foul gave Owen a free kick on the left flank just outside the penalty area.
Sophomore Boone Ferguson took that chance and made the most of it, sneaking a low roller through the Polk defense and just inside the right post for the equalizer.
The Wolverines then came ever, ever so close to winning in regulation as Sebastian Azar’s touch off a Cooper Meyer cross slipped just wide of the net with a minute remaining. Both teams, obviously fatigued, didn’t threaten quite as much in the two overtime periods, though Owen goalkeeper Cord Griffin did have to stop a quality Brennan Oates threat late in the first extra session.
“In the first half we did what we wanted to do,” said Polk County head coach George Alley. “They scored, we came right back and we were able to minimize the number of chances that (Owen senior Spencer Woolley) got. We go into halftime up 2-1.
“We’re creating opportunities, we just need that last piece of quality in the final third. We’re not hitting the shot or making the pass that we need there.”
Woolley entered as the conference’s top scorer with 25 goals and at least one tally in every match this season. He added to his total in the 16th minute, outracing a pair of Polk defenders and drilling a short-range strike into the roof of the net to give Owen the first strike.
Polk County immediately answered a minute later as Blake Anderson corralled possession deep on the right wing and struck a hard liner into the left side of the net, evening the match.
It stayed that way until the final two minutes of the half when Meyer, finding a bit of operating room on the Polk sideline, dribbled into the corner and struck a perfect cross toward the far post, where Oates leaped in front of a defender and headed the pass home. That bit of beauty sent the Wolverines into the intermission up a goal.
Polk then missed a two-goal lead by inches twice in a minute early in the second half – an Owen player deflected a corner kick off the crossbar, another corner kick led to a Polk attempt that just sailed wide.
Save for Azar’s near strike at the end of regulation, those would be Polk’s best chances at a third goal for the rest of the evening as both defenses battled to preserve the tie. The physical play and pressure led to injury stoppages for Polk defenders Mason Hudson, Will Garrison and David Ramirez, though each eventually returned to the field.
“I thought our reserves stepped up and did a great job,” Alley said. “Grayson Meyer was huge today.”
The Wolverines will get a bit of a much-needed break before returning to action Wednesday at Mountain Heritage.
