BY BILL SPINKS

HERALD DEMOCRAT

McKINNEY -- Friday's Class 4A Region II bi-district boys soccer match came down to one Sherman slip-up late in the first half.

A turnover by the Bearcats on their own end resulted in a Carrollton R.L. Turner goal with a minute left before halftime, and the Lions went on to eliminate Sherman, 2-0, at McKinney Boyd High School.

"We didn't pass very good, and we made the costly mistake of trying to dribble in the back," said Bearcats coach Chico Aleman. "Usually our passing game is a lot better than that. I told (the players) you have to use your strengths, and our strength is the passing game. If it's not clicking, it's not clicking."

The end result was still a lot more competitive than last year's playoff meeting, which Turner wound up running away with, 6-0.

"This is basically the same team we played last year," Aleman said. "They only lost two seniors, and the same with us. I thought it was a big improvement compared to last year. We made one mistake that took us out of the game, and that was it."

Top scorer Isai Mireles sat out Friday's match for Turner (18-3-1), disqualified because of a red card last Friday in a 2-1 win against Frisco Wakeland in the regular-season finale. Mireles has 28 goals on the year.

However, Jacob Van Compernolle, the Lions' No. 2 scoring option, stepped in and scored both of the Lions' goals -- one in the 39th minute off a Bearcat turnover, and one on a penalty kick with about five minutes left.

For almost the entire first half, the Bearcats and Lions battled to a stalemate. But with time running down, Sherman turned the ball over in the backfield, and Turner got couple of shots on goal. Bearcat keeper Joan Torres stopped both, but the second shot deflected out to Van Compernolle on the left side, who put it in the net for a 1-0 Turner lead with 1:01 left in the half.

"One of the things I asked them not to do was, do not make mistakes," Aleman said. "Do not dribble in the back. Especially with a team as skillful as them. We cannot afford to make mistakes."

Sherman (10-5-3) had several chances to equalize foiled by Lions netminder Juan Reballos and a quick Turner defense. The Cats' best opportunity occurred midway through the second half, when Ben Pressley broke away and beat Reballos, but Turner's Edgar Moreno got back in time and cleared Pressley's shot for a corner kick.

"Ben has provided the same chances in various games," Aleman said. "That was the other thing I asked our guys to do, put the ball behind their defense. We've got the speed, but we didn't take advantage of it."

With about five minutes left, Van Compernolle finally broke free and got a shot that was saved spectacularly by Torres, but Van Compernolle was tackled hard by Tyler Cobbs in the goal box on the play. Cobbs was red-carded and sent off, and Van Compernolle made the penalty kick for Turner's insurance goal.

"Our goalkeeper would've stopped that," Aleman said. "I think it was just a matter of whether he communicated with Tyler. Tyler wouldn't have committed that foul. But that really knocks the wind out of you, especially with that short amount of time. With five minutes left, you still have a chance. We were still knocking on the door."