The Red Devils men’s and women’s soccer teams seasons came to a halt against Pratt on Sunday in Region VI second round playoff losses.
The Allen’s men’s soccer team (12-4-1; 7-2) was defeated 2-1 on their home turf on Sunday night. The women’s team (12-5; 5-1) was shut out at Pratt, 2-0. Yuki Ikezaki delivered the lone goal for the Allen men in the opening minutes of the second half.
Men’s Soccer
Both teams were held scoreless through the opening 45 minutes of first-half play. The Red Devils managed more chances at goal in the opening half but couldn’t get anything to get past the Pratt goalkeeper.
Ikezaki’s goal kicked off the scoring on a penalty kick only a few minutes into the second half for the 1-0 Allen advantage. Ikezaki was a scoring threat for the Red Devils all season after finishing his campaign with nine goals through 17 games started.
“He’s a brilliant player and he’s a guy you’ve got to have on the field because he can find the goal at any time,” said Allen head coach Doug Desmarteau. “That was a big time set piece. We’re going to miss him.”
Pratt scored twice following Ikezaki’s goal with a pair of team goals on two of the eight total Pratt shots on goal.
It was an unfortunate blow for the Red Devils as the team controlled possession on their offensive end of the field most of the match. Allen also led Pratt with nine shots on goal as opposed to the Beavers’ eight shots on goal.
“We just couldn’t put away our chances, they only had one good chance,” said Desmarteau. “We had multiple that we didn’t put away and a team like this if you let them hang around, this is what’s going to happen. I didn’t prepare the guys well enough so it’s on me.”
Ikezaki led the way with four shots on goal and seven total shots, followed by Tavar Lawrence’s two shots on goal and four shots total. Thiago Fernandes also made two shots on goal and four total shots. Romario Tomlinson kicked two total shots and one shot on goal.
“I just think we made two mistakes and they scored on them,” Desmarteau said. “Neither one of them was a shot, we weren’t prepared enough for the set pieces. I think we still took it to them, we controlled the whole game and soccer’s a game where one little kick in one direction makes a huge difference. I thought we had a goal at the end of the game.”
Red Devil goalkeeper Samuel Montanez made six saves with the Beavers kicking eight shots on goal through 90 minutes.
Women’s Soccer
The Lady Red Devils were ultimately downed after a pair of first half goals from the Beavers 21 and 27 minutes into the match.
In a match that Allen led in shots, 13-7, the team was unable to find the goal with a total of nine Pratt saves by goalkeeper Jade Massing. Allen also kicked 11 shots on goal while Pratt only footed three shots on goal through 90 minutes.
