Beloit Memorial boys soccer head coach Brian Denu called Eduardo Gonzalez-Terrero the team’s secret weapon.
The Purple Knights may have trouble keeping the freshman midfielder under wraps for long.
After having a strong end to the regular season, Gonzalez-Terrero continued his dominant play on Tuesday evening at Strong Complex Soccer Field as Beloit took down Sun Prairie East 2-0 in the WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal.
“It was one of those games where we controlled the majority of it,” Denu said. “East is a good team, though, and they put pressure on us. I was super proud of the boys, and I’m excited about the chance to move on.”
This is not only Gonzalez-Terrero’s first season of high-school ball, but it is also his first season of American soccer after moving to Wisconsin with his family
“Eduardo brings such a different element to this team,” Denu said. “He’s fast. He isn’t big, but he is super aggressive. He wins so many 50/50 balls or can rip them from guys’ feet. In the last two weeks, he’s kind of stepped up and increased his role.”
The goal came after an aggressive first half from the Knights, who had control of the ball for much of the period but just couldn’t seem to get the ball into the net.
“I thought we should have had the lead by halftime,” Denu said. “We hit the post a couple of times, and we played really well. This is a team we tied 1-1 in the regular season, but we thought we could put them under and put pressure on them. They went out and did that, and they did it better than I even imagined.”
The Cardinals had very few chances at good shots, especially in the first half, as Beloit’s defense was all over them.
“My backline played great today,” goalie Beckham Denu said. “If I had to give out an MVP, it would be to them. All of our defenders are so good, and it’s so much better for me with them in there.”
East’s offense was aggressive after Gonzalez-Terrero’s goal, desperately trying to keep their season alive with several nice moves on the goal.
“I save what I can,” Beckham said. “Those saves are not easy, but the shots are going to happen.”
Eventually Beloit’s offense got control once again, and Marcos Giles made a solid pass to Baylor Denu, who rocketed the ball past the goalie to give the Knights a comfortable 2-0 lead with just over 15 minutes left in the game.
“He’s crazy,” Beckham said about his brother. “What he does is really insane. He had a really good game, and him scoring that second one? That was game right there.”
The Cardinals made one last push, but Beloit’s defense stood strong once again.
“In the last 10 minutes, Pablo Guzman-Gaytan had a great block inside the 18,” Beckham said. “That’s probably a goal if he doesn’t block that. Diego Gama got hit like three times, and he got up and played as hard as he could.”
The Knights will play the winner of the semifinal matchup between Madison Memorial and Janesville Criag on Saturday for the regional championship.
“Assuming Memorial wins, they are a team that beat us 3 to 1 in the regular season,” Denu said. “But we didn’t have Baylor or Britton. We know enough about Memorial that we’re going to go up there and give them a battle for sure.”
