Martin Scores Lone MRH Goal in Season-Ending Loss to Bayless

*Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified who scored MRH's goal. We are very sorry for the error.

The performance of Sam Martin* was the one bright spot in a 8-1 loss to Bayless on Thursday night. Martin, a senior, scored the lone goal for MRH.

The Blue Devils (8-16-1) lost the district championship and finished its year as the fourth-place team in the South Central Athletic Association standings.

Bayless proved to be too much for MRH. The Bronchos (20-4-1) boys soccer team stormed its way to its second straight district championship with the win.

“It was a tough night for us,” MRH head coach Chris Meyer said. “It should’ve been a little closer, I think. But they’re a really good team. And it showed tonight.”

It showed especially in the second half, when Bayless posted six straight goals on continuous attacks down the field against the MRH defense.

Senior Mahir Omeragic got the scoring going in the second half when he blasted one past MRH’s Austin Golden at the 36:09 mark to make it 3-0.

Teammate Demir Tankosic slammed home a penalty kick at 32:28 to make it 4-0 and was followed by Armin Mehic’s corner kick header at 28:43 to give the Bronchos a 5-0 lead.

Alihodzic added his third goal of the night—and 24th of the season—on a blast from the right flank at the 23:35 mark that made the score 6-0.

“Maplewood played us kind of tight this year,” Bayless head coach Dave Pozzo said. “And I think the boys knew that if they came out and scored a goal, they might be able to hold us off. So we wanted to kind of come out and set the tone. And I think we did that.”

The Bronchos got two goals from junior leading scorer Fazlo Alihodzic midway through the first half to go up 2-0, then really poured it on in the second half, with six goals scored in nearly every way imaginable by six different players.

With Bayless controlling possession for most of the night, MRH had a difficult time generating offense.

The Devils had just one legitimate scoring chance in the first half and didn’t really get many chances in the second either—at least, not until Bayless had turned the match into a blowout.

Bayless, which won its district semifinal game over Carnahan High 10-0, wound up winning the district championship by outscoring its two opponents 18-1.

The Bronchos will enter state sectionals Tuesday when they face longtime playoff nemesis St. Pius X High School of Festus, MO.

St. Pius is the champion of Class 1 District 1, which it won Thursday afternoon, 6-1, over Saxony Lutheran High School.

Scoring Summary

First Half

B: Fazlo Alihodzic (22)  –  20:56.

B: Fazlo Alihodzic (23)  -- 19:05.

Second Half

B: Mahir Omeragic (4)  –  36:09.

B: Demir Tankosic (11)  --  32:29.

B: Armin Mehic (2)  --  28:43.

B: Fazlo Alihodzic (24)  --  23:35.

B: Enis Brdarevic (6)  --  23:00.

B: Abdullah Karim (3)  --  18:35.

MRH: Sam Martin (23)  --  12:42.