CPHS Soccer: Bartlesville sweeps season opener, Saldana scores 2

The Charles Page High School varsity soccer teams are still looking for their first wins of the season after Bartlesville won both the boys and girls’ season-opening matches last Tuesday at Memorial Stadium. The girls were shut out 2-0, but the boys led 3-1 in the second half before the Bruins (3-1) scored four goals in the final twenty minutes for the 5-4 non-district comeback.

The Bartlesville girls (4-0) were aggressive on offense, out-shooting Sand Springs 14 to 3, but junior goalie Ali Day made seven saves to keep her team in contention. Hannah Sparks had a goal called off on an off-sides call in the 11th minute, but Reagan Klose made up for it four minutes later and Zoe McCabe made it 2-0 in the 35th minute.

Sand Springs didn’t get off its first shot till the final minute of the first half, and they only made two shots in the second half. The Sandite defense made a strong second half effort, only allowing four shots and no goals, but offensively they couldn’t find an answer for the still undefeated Bruins.

The boys were conservative but accurate in the first half, only taking five shots, and scored on two of them. Senior Luke Jeffus made the first goal of the season in the 8th minute, but Gabriel Ontiveros tied it up with a putback a minute later. The Bruins took three shots in a row, with one bouncing off the goal post. Junior goalie Xander Quiroga blocked the second shot, but the third time was the charm for Ontiveros.

Jeffus almost had a brace on a free kick in the 11th minute, but it traveled just a hair to the right of the goal, and instead it was Fernando Saldana with the go-ahead goal with 1:24 left in the half.

The Sandites opened up in the second half, taking far more shots. Jack Bratcher made it 3-1 with an assist from Saldana, but Bartlesville came storming back. Jalen Belong scored in the 61st minute, Dylan McCoy tied it in the 74th minute, and Ontiveros scored the go-ahead goal with 4:16 left to play.

Saldana tied it up with a penalty kick at the 77:00 mark, but Belong had the final score of the night just a minute later. Saldana got a free kick in the final minute that was deflected and Cameron Summerton tried to score on a header but the shot traveled out of bounds and the Bruins ran out the clock.

Both teams took 17 shots in the match. The Bruin keeper came away with four saves and Quiroga had six.

Sand Springs Soccer will return to action Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. with a non-district Highway 97 Rivalry match-up. The Sapulpa boys are 1-1 and the girls are 2-0.