SOCCER: Yearwood’s late score, Gilder’s gallant goalkeeping get West Laurens past Calhoun in OT thriller

It was a shot Jack Yearwood had been ready for his entire soccer-playing life. 

The West Laurens sophomore faced a free kick of roughly 30 yards, offset slightly left, with a chance to break a 1-1 tie with about 90 seconds to go in the first half of overtime, as a AAA state quarterfinal match between the Raiders and No. 11 seed Calhoun went down to the wire Tuesday night at The SHU. 

One extra moment to think about it – as the administration of the Calhoun foul and some subsequent chatter between players that had to be settled caused a brief delay – was probably just what was needed to allow him to refocus his mind, from some similar opportunities earlier in the night that didn’t go his way to a moment with the potential to become the biggest of his career. 

“I missed the last one; I knew I wasn’t going to miss that one,” Yearwood said. “I lined up over it, and practiced that shot hundreds of times in practices. It’s just routine at this point.” 

He strode to the ball and smashed it, on a low trajectory clearing a line of defenders and steering just past a reaching keeper, into the left side of the net to put West Laurens back on top by a score of 2-1. 

The lead, thanks to some more stalwart defense and goalkeeping that had run the length of the night, held through the remaining 12 minutes to get the Raiders past the Yellow Jackets, and into the GHSA state semifinals for the first time ever. 

Yearwood turned to the stands, where the home fans were in delerium, with a fist pump before running toward the corner to celebrate with teammates, as his mind momentarily revisited his freshman season and its ending on a disappointment that had driven himself and returning teammates in the year since. 

Just as quickly, those thoughts turned ahead to some critical time left in the match, and a berth in the next-to-last round of the state tournament that was now close enough to taste. 

“It was just a great moment, because we lost 6-0 in the first round last year,” he said. “Seeing this team going to a final four for the first time in history is pretty amazing.” 

The full-time whistle brought just as huge a feeling of gratification for West Laurens head coach Nate Smith, who has had a few worthy teams come to this precipice in his decade-plus at the helm, over which the Raiders have gradually raised their statewide profile, and pushed the limits of seasons further and further. 

This year’s club (with the company of a 2022 squad as the only other in school history to reach the quarterfinals) is the first to take this significant a step toward state championship contention. 

“It means the world,” Smith said. “I was telling the boys, you deserve to be here. When you walk out that (locker room) door the first time, it’s elite eight, when you walk back in, it’s final four. It’s awesome. I’m so proud of the boys, they deserve every inkling of this.” 

As players swarmed the field in front of him, a slap-wore-out West Laurens goalkeeper R.T. Gilder took a seat in front of his net and exhaled deeply, with the coast finally clear of Calhoun shots, deep passes and wayward deflections that had come one after another for the past hour and 40 minutes. 

The freshman had gotten hands on all but one of them that threatened goal in an impressive display of team-lifting confidence that the Yellow Jackets – aside from a top-quality attempt they managed to rifle by late in regulation to force overtime – could never challenge. 

An unofficial tally had Calhoun with 20 total shots, and Gilder with roughly a dozen saves. 

“He’s just a brick wall back there,” Smith said. “He’s very controlled and confident, and that helps the rest of the team, him being as confident as he is back there. It just kind of spills over.” 

Raider defenders counteracted Calhoun’s elite quickness at the forward and midfield positions with great ball pressure at all spots on the field that made open looks and clean shooting angles almost impossible to come by. 

Both attacks benefitted from an abundance of body blows that drew fouls to set up over a couple dozen mid-to-short range free kicks, on which each repeatedly attempted to lob the ball close for headers that West Laurens, defensively, won a majority of the time. 

Though rebounds were a bit of a concern, members of the Raiders’ back line continued to hold their ground as they leaned on the hot hands of their keeper to secure anything that slipped through. 

“They just fight, the boys just fight,” Smith said. “The defense has been a strength, and it’s been a strength for us throughout the season, but really since we got into the playoffs. One goal in three games is pretty awesome.” 

It took the perfect shot to equalize for a Calhoun reserve midfielder, who connected as the ball rotated left on some secondary movement for a high-powered 25-yard blast that got home in the right side of the net with a little more than six minutes to go in the second half. 

Calhoun, briefly seizing momentum with the score, had some more great looks in the few tense minutes that followed. 

But Gilder, unfazed, ensured nothing else would get by him the rest of the night as he laid out to block multiple consecutive shots in a several-second staredown off a Calhoun fast-break, then several more that came his way in the last few seconds. 

“Just put your body on the line, go for the ball. That’s all,” he said. 

The late twist brought a sudden turn in the match from physical battle to a mental one. 

West Laurens kept its poise despite some visible fatigue, and regained the dominant defensive upper hand after a moment to catch the breath, and regroup during the pre-overtime intermission. 

Among other technical points, Smith’s message to the huddle included an adamant reminder “that they’re in the game.” 

“The game’s not over,” he recounted. “It’s obvious that we played an absolutely phenomenal team in Calhoun. You’re 1-1, you’re neck and neck with them, don’t let up. You’ve gotta believe. I was trying to talk to the boys a little bit about positive thinking. You’ve just gotta believe sometime that you can do it. And that’ll help with the energy level too.” 

And at the encouragement of several other coaches on the sideline who had taken notice of the wind’s shift into the sails of Calhoun with the tying goal, the Raider bench made a point of kindling some of its own momentum that players on the field were able to draw on in the 20 extra minutes.

“We had Coach Jackson (Carter) hyping us up,” Gilder said. “We had the whole team hyping us up. It was like we were in the Perry game again.” 

Besides some regained composure, overtime brought a continuation of the intense, hard-fought soccer that had been played all throughout regulation. 

Whistles, which got both sets of fans a little restless in the first half of play, were frequent from the beginning as officials attempted to get an early handle on the physical, chippy match. As the second half wore on, simple fouls and warnings gave way to yellow cards, which came out for key defenders on either side late in regulation. 

More of the above brought about back-to-back set pieces in the first few minutes of OT, on which both teams’ eventual shots were wide of the goal. 

Two players got tangled to give West Laurens a second free-kick opening near the same spot Yearwood would ultimately score, though this try got intercepted by one in a three-man wall of defenders, and blocked away. 

It was the only overtime yellow, issued to Calhoun’s Gerry Carranza stemming from what appeared to be some routine jawing that an official from a distance away had clearly had enough of, led to his go-ahead opportunity not long after. 

Yearwood, who is his team’s go-to shooter when the goal is in decent range, came through to get it done. 

“Jack is just a gamer,” Smith said. “Jack wants the ball in big moments, and we’re OK giving it to him. And I think the other boys recognize it as well.” 

The match’s intensity spilled over into an unfortunate postgame scene, as Calhoun coaches offered some words along with handshakes to members of the officiating crew. The head ref replied with a yellow card, then proceeded to flash several other yellows and reds in the direction of other players nearby. 

Amid the minor fuss, a spectator had to be briefly restrained after confronting a separate member of the crew on the field. 

Calhoun seemed to dictate the tempo in the first half, though Gilder’s rock-solid play in goal prevented anything from unfolding in the Yellow Jackets’ favor around the net. 

When not leaping or diving for impressive collections, the West Laurens keeper was flipping the field on punts, goal kicks and free kicks – once nearly hitting Alex Derochie on a deep ball that would’ve had him in the clear out front, if not for an offside flag. 

The second half began with more of the same, and gave you the sense that the first team to score might win. 

Slides by West Laurens’ Corban Kersey and Joe Powell held off a good-looking Calhoun chance in the early minutes. 

A Yearwood free kick, off a hook foul, got headed away with about 24 minutes left just before the Raiders finally got the bounce of the ball they were hoping for. 

A throw-in by Spencer Saussy trickled into a patch of unoccupied space, where the Jackets’ Salvador Herrera came on and got underneath the ball with his left foot as he attempted to clear it wide toward the right corner. 

It landed well right of the frame with no one around except the neon-clad keeper Josue Mercado, who seemed positioned to play it routinely. But some nasty backspin he wasn’t anticipating caused the ball to bounce sideways, and straight by him into the net for an own goal. 

“I did tell the boys, I was like, look, let’s not win this game on their goal. Let’s score one of ours, too,” Smith said. “So we were fortunate enough to do that.” 

Calhoun immediately went on the attack offensively, peppering Gilder with shots starting its next time down as the freshman patiently timed his jump on a ball to deflect it over the bar. 

The Raiders overcame a couple of yellow cards that briefly forced their keeper and another defender from the game to maintain the lead until Calhoun’s last-minute stinger. 

It’ll be a quick turnaround as West Laurens welcomes No. 18 seed East Hall to the SHU on Friday night with a shot to lock up a spot in next week’s state title game, due to be played on a neutral field in Duluth. 

The Gainesville-based Vikings, 2-1 winners in both their early-round matches and 2-0 over Oconee County in the quarters earlier this week, will likely be just as stiff a test for the Raiders, whose mindset from the start of this postseason run has been championship-or-bust. 

“We’re going for it all, man,” Yearwood said. “We’ve upset teams people think should beat us, but they don’t. We’re gonna go all the way and win state.” 

“We’re making history,” Gilder said. “We can get a championship, if we win it all, it’ll be big.”