Class 3A boys soccer: Casady defeats Crooked Oak for 1st OSSAA title
Editor's note: Casady won a 2023 OSSAA state championship in boys cross country. This article has been updated.
Eddy Parra emphatically raised the wooden trophy toward the rows of Casady fans in Taft Stadium.
After an intense Class 3A state finals match, it made sense for the Casady junior midfielder to hold the grand prize.
The Cyclones defeated Crooked Oak, 2-1, on Saturday evening for their first Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association state title in boys soccer, and Parra provided the golden goal in overtime.
“It was amazing,” Parra said. “Just tears running down my eyes. I was like, ‘It’s over. I can finally rest. No more worries.’ That’s all I could think of.”
Exhausted from running, Parra talked to Casady coach Stephen Phillips about moving from midfielder to central forward for sudden-death overtime. It’s not Parra’s typical position, but Phillips had faith when he saw sophomore Heztli Rodriguez deliver a cross to Parra with 7:06 left on the scoreboard.
More: Class 3A girls soccer: Community Christian beats Casady for first state title
“These two play club soccer with each other,” Phillips said. “So they have a combination; they have this feeling about how to play with each other. (Rodriguez) made the most amazing cross. Great touch, and a great finish.”
Rodriguez had scored Casady’s first goal, giving the Cyclones a 1-0 advantage with a header in the first period. Casady (15-1) carried that lead through most of the second half, but Crooked Oak had persistence, taking several close shots until freshman midfielder David Alejo slipped a goal into the right side of the net with 8:59 left in regulation.
Although the Cyclones had shut out their past two opponents, they weren’t going to manage an easy win against the Ruf-Nex. Crooked Oak claimed 7-0 victories against Mount St. Mary and Tulsa Cascia Hall before surging past Community Christian, 5-2, to reach the state finals for the third straight year.
With Parra’s golden goal, Casady became the sole Class 3A team to defeat Crooked Oak (15-3) this season. Crooked Oak’s only other losses occurred against Enid and Edmond Santa Fe, both 6A teams.
Casady, meanwhile, burst onto the scene as a fellow Class 3A powerhouse in its debut season of OSSAA competition. Previously, the Cyclones faced Texas teams in the Southwest Preparatory Conference, winning their last boys soccer championship in 2007.
The drought ended Saturday, when Phillips helped the Cyclones make school history in a different athletic association as their first-year head coach.
“We’ve had some games like this, which was a nail-biter,” Phillips said. “Not very good for the heart. Not very good for my blood pressure, on top of it. But it’s a wonderful occasion.”
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Class 3A boys soccer: Casady defeats Crooked Oak for 1st OSSAA title
