Whatever ailments hampered the Wolverines Tuesday all but disappeared with a potent dose of Doskocil.
As in Dylan Doskocil.
With a last name sounding like a prescription-strength painkiller, the sophomore defender kept Bayfield Soccer from a second straight one-goal loss with an amazing charge forward from deep midfield. He finished at near-breakaway speed past Pagosa Springs goalie Paul Farrah-tying the score at 1-1 in the 78th minute and revitalizing the Wolverines to soldier on through two overtimes and depart Golden Peaks Stadium with a draw.
"Well, whenever we're losing by one, we always move defenders up," he explained, also alluding to last Saturday's 1-0 loss to Alamosa at BHS, "and I was center-mid. To score as a defender...it was just a dream come true, I guess!"
"We moved him up just to try to equalize," head coach Chris Zoltowski said, "and we actually had five midfielders at the time, just trying to bring that extra guy up for the attack. And it paid off!"
Given new life on the road, Doskocil's in-the-huddle shout of 'Let's win this for the seniors! It's their last time playing Pagosa!' sent the squad out for the first extra 10 minutes with a renewed sense of purpose.
"That was me," he laughed afterwards. "I'm really good friends with all the seniors, and I wanted everyone to be working as hard as they can."
Not that Bayfield hadn't already put the Pirates to the test; Farrah's sliding save of junior Marcus Isiordia's 51st-minute effort kept the 3A Intermountain League contest scoreless, and Wolverine senior keeper Austin Bushnell's spectacular flying punch-save of PSHS junior Leo Witschurk in the 62nd did likewise.
However, with the ball going out of bounds still in the visitors' defensive third, Pagosa Springs soon worked for a free kick from just outside the area, and junior Brandon Breman managed to knock in the icebreaker out of chaos created in front of Bushnell by freshman Josue Monterroso's initial service.
"You know, it could have gone the other way," Zoltowski said, "and these boys kept fighting."
Early in the first OT, Doskocil joined sophomore Berman Abdallah-Boehm in receiving a yellow card in the 86th, but the Wolverines (4-5-3, 3-5-2 IML) more or less stayed on track and junior Tilden Berriman gave PSHS a fright when he zipped a shot just over Farrah's crossbar in the 88th.
The Pirates (4-7-2, 4-4-2) almost countered in the 90th, but a promising opportunity off a corner kick was swept out by Bayfield sophomore Esteban Romero and the match went into a second OT seconds later.
"There were parts where both teams didn't do their full potential," said Doskocil, "and they definitely came out swinging. But I think we were ready for a fight, and it was a good game overall."
BHS junior Colton Fine almost booked the 'golden goal' in the 95th, but his shot also climbed high and off the football goalpost over the sophomore Farrah. Doskocil then almost became twice the hero when he raced inside the Pirates' 18 and was dropped to the grass.
Most in attendance thought a penalty kick would be awarded, but none was and play progressed. Irked but undaunted, Bayfield senior Finlay Marshall-who'd had a developing rush in the 18th smothered by Farrah before he could shoot-took a strong shot in the 101st but a Pagosa defender prevented it from reaching the goal box.
Regaining possession in short order, the Wolverines managed one last intrusion but Farrah saw Abdallah-Boehm's header all the way from conception to execution and made the penultimate stop.
"It was nice to see the team continue to push, with the high pressure," Zoltowski said. "I'm happy."
Up next for BHS will be this evening's 5:30 p.m. visit from Crested Butte Community School, the seniors' last league match inside Wolverine Country Stadium.
Starting a stretch of five matches in seven days, the Titans will come in 6-4-0 (6-1-0 IML) but haven't seen competition since losing 1-0 Oct. 6 at non-league 3A Basalt.
"We're going to work on first touch; that was definitely a problem this game," Doskocil said. "And also moving around, not playing the ball all the way through, small things that could make us really good."
"We've had a couple heartbreaking games," Zoltowski said, "and it's good to see them still have 'it' in them at the end of the season."
