It took a minute — nearly 40 of them to be more exact — but the plan eventually did come together Saturday for Crete.
Now the Cardinals get to strategize for the state tournament.
Class B No. 5 Crete scored twice in the final minute of the opening half, the difference in a 3-1 win over seventh-ranked Omaha Roncalli in the boys B-8 District Final.
The victory means a return trip to Omaha for the program’s first state tourney appearance since 2019.
“I just love that I get to be with these guys for another week,” Crete coach Derek Spence said.
They’ll get a few more days together thanks in large part to a stunning momentum shift just before halftime on Saturday.
Trailing 1-0 courtesy of an Alex Miller score ten minutes in, Carlos Alvarez Flores found the back of the net twice within 30 seconds on nearly identical runs down the left side and shots from a difficult angle.
The first erased a Roncalli lead and the second — his team-leading 16th of the year — put the Cardinals up going to the break.
“I just saw the keep(er) and saw the opportunity to shoot and just took it,” Alvarez Flores said.
And the near carbon copy second?
“Oh yeah,” he said, “I guess two opportunities.”
It was the first real success the Cardinals had on a soggy Roncalli natural grass surface.
"Watching film I thought we could attack their wings,” Spence said. “And we thought that was going to be the gameplan. Then we woke up this morning and it had rained quite a bit, and it was soaked down the sidelines.
“We said ‘If we can take it down there, take it down there.’ And Carlos was able to take it down, cut across, and then just able to place two great footballs past the keeper.”
It was an Alvarez Flores cross that set up the insurance score in the 58th minute. His centering ball from the right side was chipped in by Osvin Garcia Velasquez to help put the match away.
“We had to keep the intensity up,” Alvarez Flores said. “It wasn’t there from the start, but when that (Roncalli) goal went in we had to flip a switch.”
Spencer said that Saturday was the first time in nearly a month that the Cardinals had been a full strength. After starting the season with nine straight wins, Crete lost three of its next four, albeit all to teams that played in Saturday’s District Final round. They've now five in a row down the stretch.
“My goal with these guys was to collect W’s,” Spence said. “I didn’t care how it happened, just collect W’s.”
They’ll be making their third state tournament appearance in program history.
“Like I told the guys, only eight teams get to practice this next week,” Spence said. “And all the teams that are doing so are going to be good.”
Crete (15-3) 2 1 - 3
At Omaha Roncalli (12-6) 1 0 - 1
GOALS: C, Carlos Alvarez Flores 2, Osvin Garcia Velasquez; OR, Alex Miller.
Other results
B-1 at South Sioux City
South Sioux City 2, Kearney Catholic 0
Brian Tostado and Nathan Aldana each scored goals for second-ranked South Sioux City (16-2), which will play in the state tournament for the third time in four years.
B-2 at Bennington
Bennington 5, Grand Island Northwest 0
Austin Kaiser had two goals and an assist, the latter breaking the state’s single-season record for helpers (27). Beau Pick added a brace for the top-ranked Badgers (20-0), who qualified for state for the fourth consecutive season.
B-3 at Omaha Skutt
Omaha Skutt 3, Scotsbluff 0
Four-time defending state champion Skutt got all three goals in the second half. Ben Schendt and Carter Wissink sandwiched scores around an own goal, enough for the No. 3 SkyHawks (15-4) to advance to a sixth consecutive state tournament.
Keeper Morgan Finkenbinder kept the 36th clean sheet of his career, a new school record.
B-4 at Lexington
Lexington 2, Elkhorn 1
After falling behind in the third minute, fourth-ranked Lexington (13-6) got goals from Edin Lima-Miranda and Jose Leiva-Miranda to punch their ticket to state for a fifth straight season.
B-5 at Plattsmouth
Elkhorn Mount Michael 2, The Platte 1, OT
Will Bruggeman got the winner in overtime and No. 8 Mount Michael knocked off tenth-ranked The Platte. The Knights (8-7) will play in the state tournament for the third time in four years.
B-6 at Schuyler
Schuyler 6, Hastings 0
Jose Cruz had a pair of goals and an assist as sixth-ranked Schuyler (14-3) secured its spot in a second straight state tournament. Cruz, who broke the career goal-scoring record earlier in the season, leads the state with 34 goals.
B-7 at Elkhorn North
Elkhorn North 2, Gretna East 0
The ninth-ranked Wolves (11-4) got goals from Jonah Santos and Jackson Crom, all the offense they’d need to clinch a third-straight trip to state.
Photos: All-Nebraska soccer teams through the years