Rams 'disappointed'

By JED LOCKETT
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

EAST RIVER — Seniors Brandon Tegeler and Ido Barzilay were honored before Wednesday night’s game against Mountain State University Wednesday night for their contributions to the Bluefield College men’s soccer team. That emotion carried over to the game.

But it was the Cougars and not the Rams that used that emotion to their advantage. Ali Katrib scored twice and Mountain State left Field 1 of the East River Soccer Complex with a 3-0 win.

“Disappointed, just very disappointed,” said Bluefield head coach Steve Laraba. “The first half we played well early, but then we just started standing and watching them bring the game to us on our home field on our senior night.”

“I think that Bluefield College had a lot of spirit and fight in them,” said Mountain State head coach and former Bluefield College head coach John Birkelbach. “My boys kept fighting and shut down their main weapon which was No. 7, Ido.”

The teams scratched and clawed at each other for the first hour of the game. They were able to advance the ball down the field, but shots were hard to come by.

Mountain State finally broke the deadlock in the 66th minute. Bluefield’s Cody Sabol was called for a foul inside the Cougars’ box on a corner kick. The referee awarded a penalty and Katrib gave Mountain State the lead 1-0.

“The guy gets pulled down in the box, it’s a penalty kick,” Birkelbach said. “You’ve got to go for the ball. You can’t just take a man down.”

“The penalty, that was just — that really effected things,” Laraba said.

The Rams tried to fight their way to an equalizer, but could not put together the quality chances they needed. The Cougars took advantage and in the 86th minute Katrib dribbled around a defender as well as Bluefield goalie Lucas Perez to double Mountain State’s lead.

One minute later, the Cougars sealed the game for good as Michel Hiza found Alexei Cottle all alone with a pass on a breakaway. Cottle then rolled the ball past Perez for Mountain State’s third goal.

“I’ve got the weapons that can put goals in for us,” Birkelbach said. “That’s when the Bluefield College markers kind of let loose of them and kind of gave them a little bit of freedom. Our guys cannot be left open. You give our guys a little bit of room and they’re going to put the ball in the back of the net.”

“When you push and try to get an equalizer, you leave yourself exposed,” Laraba said. “The second goal was that and the third one was just we got exposed by taking numbers up and they’re able to get the third one in.”

Likely the most memorable moment Wednesday night occurred before kickoff. In addition to the Star Spangled Banner, the Israeli national anthem was played and a Israeli flag was carried onto the field by an injured member of the Bluefield College team in honor of Barzilay, who is originally from Ramat-Gan, Israel.

“That was my idea,” Birkelbach said. “He’s just given so much to the school and this program and the community working with clinics and things like that. I just thought that it was very deserving and that it would be a good surprise for him on his senior night.”

Barzilay stood at quiet attention as an orchestral arrangement of “Hatikva”, meaning the hope, sang out over the loudspeakers and the blue and white of Barzilay’s home danced in the wind.

“I never expected to hear my anthem and see my flag and I think that it’s amazing,” Barzilay said. “It’s something I will never forget from my coach and my teammates. It just shows how well I adjusted, acclimated to this place that they honor me next to the American national anthem that they play mine.

“I just want to say that I came here with a big cloud of uncertainty as a transfer. And they accepted me as family from the beginning, everyone always supportive, always encouraging. It’s something that I will take with me in the rest of my life. I will always have a warm spot for Bluefield College and the people of this city.”

Mountain State (9-3-2) travels to Tennessee Wesleyan on Saturday before hosting their conference’s championship game on Sunday.

“That’s our big goal,” Birkelbach said, “playing Brescia for the conference championship for the regular season and then heading into the conference tournament.”

Bluefield (6-10) travels to Averett University on Thursday, Oct. 18.

“We take a couple days off and start back on the training field and try to rectify the things that we’ve done wrong,” Laraba said. “We just have to come back together and get ourselves playing well and hopefully get a result on Thursday.”

— Contact Jed Lockett

at jlockett@bdtonline.com



At East River Soccer Complex Field 1

Goals — MSU: Ali Katrib (62 pen, 86), Alexei Cottle (87). Ast — MSU: Michel Hiza (87). Halftime — 0-0. Shots (On Goal) — MSU 13 (5); BC 12 (2). Saves — MSU 2 (Adam Thompson 2); BC 2 (Lucas Perez 2). Corner Kicks — MSU 3; BC 6. Offsides — MSU 5; BC 3. Fouls — MSU 13; BC 15. Cards — MSU: Charles Turner (Y 62), Anthony Collins (Y 88); BC: Cody Sabol (Y 19), Jonathon Gunther (Y 66).