Republic soccer Tigers grab two conference wins

Republic soccer started its week with a game that will go down in the history books. Hosting Willard, the teams were tied 3–3 after regulation, and still tied 3–3 after two 10-minute overtime periods. By rule, each team takes five alternating penalty kicks to decide a winner, but the teams were still tied after that.
So each coach chose an additional player to take a kick. Then another. And another. After each pair of kicks, the teams remained tied, all the way until kick No. 11. That’s when Jean Carlo Marin Barrantes made his kick for Republic, but Willard’s kick sailed high over the cross-post, giving Republic a victory in the longest game Republic had ever played.
“That’s the longest one I’ve been in. To go 11 kickers, I’ve never done that one before,” said coach Kevin Hauck. “”I thought it showed a lot of fight for our team,“ says Hauck. “We kept fighting and they kept fighting, too. To pull out the win, that’s a huge victory for us."
The Republic soccer team pushed past a pesky Neosho squad on the road, knocking off the Wildcats 3–2. Republic got goals from Austin Beck, Drew Flippin and Marco Donjuan. Elijah Masten and Kalem Murray each had an assist.
Republic scored first in the first half, but Neosho tied the score before halftime. The Tigers added two more in the second half, and a Neosho goal late in the game put the Wildcats within striking distance, but Republic held off their late charge.
“It’s very difficult to play down here against Neosho,” said Hauck. “They have true home field advantage. It’s a hard place to come and to play them and to get a win, so for us to be able to get a win tonight down here…I’m really happy with the outcome.”