A physical and quick Northwest Classen squad doused postseason hopes for El Reno High School's boys soccer team, handing the Indians a 7-1 defeat.
The loss to the Knights, ranked No. 4 in Class 5A, dropped El Reno to 3-4 in the District 5A-2 standings and one victory out of the playoff picture.
“It's been that way the last four years,” El Reno head coach Richard Nix said. “Just one game can make a difference.”
El Reno won only one of its last four matches to close with a 6-7 record.
The Indians looked a step slow in the loss to Classen as the Knights scored at the 37:01 mark off a header, then added a penalty kick with 32:11 left.
El Reno fell behind 3-0 when goalie Henry Gallegos blocked a shot in traffic but was screened off the rebound and could not recover. The Knights added a fourth goal at the 10:10 mark.
Gallegos made eight saves in the first half including a pair of leaping saves (13:56 and 3:39) and a sliding stop with 3:46 left. Classen had a total of 16 shots in the half.
“They had a couple of guys that could turn quick and shoot,” Nix said. “Their team speed was surprising. They were running by us like we were standing still. I thought we had good team speed, but they were faster.”
The quickness edge aided the Knights in limiting El Reno to only three shots as attempts by Bence Camacho (27:30) and Raymond Little (21:05) were turned away by Classen goalie Quyen Bahn.
Willie Ingram did get a shot past Bahn when the two collided with 7:02 left and Ingram was able to recover for an empty-net goal.
El Reno had one shot in the second half, by Camacho, while the Knights tacked on three more goals off a total of nine shots.
Gallegos turned away nine shots in the final 40 to close with 17 for the match.