Archers Suffer One-Goal Loss to Lewis and Clark

Freshman forward Tolga Duarte stoked St. Louis Community College’s offense, but the Archers were unable to hold off Lewis and Clark Thursday, falling 3-2.

Duarte (Turkey) and freshman forward Ricky Schmermund (McCluer) recorded first-half goals for the Archers. However, Lewis and Clark secured the win with the game’s only second-half goal, leading the Trailblazers to their second one-goal victory of the season over the Archers.

“To be honest, both times, I thought we outplayed them,” STLCC head coach Mike Mayberry said. “We just made enough mistakes to (allow) them to win.”

Mayberry also credited the performance of Lewis and Clark’s goalkeeper, who bounced back from allowing two goals in the first half to shutting out the Archers in the second half of the game.

Mayberry limited Duarte, who missed most of the season with a groin injury, to about 20 minutes in Thursday’s game.

“It was out of necessity,” Mayberry said, regarding his pulling Duarte in the second half. “It’s a response to his body. He was effective in the first half, but he wasn’t reacting well in the second half, so we pulled him.”

With the Archers’ offense slowed in the second half without Duarte, freshman goalie Kevin Cooksey (St. Dominic) was given no room for error. Cooksey allowed one goal during one half of play, after relieving sophomore keeper Ryan Essenpreis (Lebanon, IL).

Even with the one-goal loss, Mayberry sees much more positive than negative in the team’s offensive approach.

“We had plenty of chances to score,” Mayberry said. “You just have to hope that in the postseason, the composure is there to put games away.”

The Archers will return to action Tuesday for their penultimate home game of the season against St. Charles Community College. The Archers dropped a 1-0 decision to St. Charles in the two teams’ only other meeting this year. The match gets under way at 4 p.m. at Florissant Valley.