Eighty minutes of play was not enough time Friday night for the Bowie Bulldogs and the Connally Cougars to determine a winner in boys varsity soccer action. After battling to a 1-1 tie, the Connally Cougars came away with the victory after outscoring Bowie 2-0 in a shootout.

Bowie got on the board first, and wasted little time in doing so, when they scored just a minute into the contest. Bowie’s score came courtesy of a chip shot by Blake Luttrell that went over and just beyond the reach of the Connally goalie.

Connally’s offense meanwhile was non-existent during the first half. Aside from two shots that went wide right off the foot of Jeff Anumu, the Cougars played back and on their heels much of the half which meant most of the action took place on their half of the field. Bowie kept the pressure on during the first half and came close to extending their lead with a shot that ricocheted off the cross bar with just seven minutes remaining in the half.

Fortunate to only be down by one goal, the Cougars came out of halftime with a vengeance. Their offense and defense played much more aggressive as they kept constant pressure on Bowie and maintained fresh legs with frequent substitutions. The strategy paid off as Connally tied the game just 1:16 into the second half when team captain Bryan Gavarrete scored from 30 yards out on a free kick. Gavarrete’s shot whizzed by Bowie’s goalie, finding the back of the net to knot the score at 1-1.

The remainder of the game saw each team take shots on goal but neither could convert the few opportunities they had which led to a tie at the end of regulation.

In the shootout Bowie’s first two shooters, Luttrell and Travis Golden both came up empty on their shots. This opened the door for the Cougars and they took advantage of the opportunity as Kevin Del Aguila and Gavarrete both scored to give Connally a 2-0 lead in the shootout. Finding themselves down with only three attempts left, the pressure was on for Bowie’s next player, Josh Specht, to score. However once again that was not to be the case as Bowie again came away without a goal. The Cougars’ William Soto had the chance to end the game with Connally’s third shot, but he too missed which gave Bowie a chance to at least tie the shootout. Eduardo Alexander was the fourth player up for Bowie and all the pressure was on him as he had to make his shot in order to keep Bowie’s slim chances at victory alive. Alexander missed his shot which sealed the victory for the Cougars.