‘Frustrated’ Monroe finally takes down rival Bedford in soccer playoff opener

Monroe always enjoys playing its rival.

But boys soccer matches against Bedford this season have been less than enjoyable. Two regular season games ended in dreaded draws and left both sides wanting for more.

For the Trojans, it also felt like missed opportunities..

“We felt pretty frustrated when we tied them,” Monroe senior Ashton Walker said. “We should’ve beat them. It felt like we should’ve beat them those two times.”

Walker made sure it didn’t happen a third time.

He broke a long scoreless standoff with a goal late in the second half to give Monroe a 1-0 victory over Bedford in the first round of the Division 1 District playoffs Wednesday night under the lights at the Trojans’ new turf field.

Scoring wasn’t on Walker’s mind when he put the ball on net.

Monroe’s Jovanny Gallegos collected a loose ball in front of the Mules’ goal and sent a quick pass out wide to Walker, who was surprised at the time and space he had just outside the box. He kept his head up for a pass and carefully timed a hard cross to the far side.

Instead, the ball dropped perfectly along the post and tapped off a Bedford defender before falling across the the goal line.

“I was expecting one of their defenders to come up and guard me. … Normally I don’t get many opportunities to shoot,” Walker said. “I’m usually just out here looking for assists.”

It was the fifth goal of the season for Walker and also the biggest.

Monroe was able to hold on for the remaining 12:16 of the game and advance to the District semifinals 6 p.m. Monday against Woodhaven. The Warriors are 13-5-2 and shared the Downriver League title with Dearborn Edsel Ford.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Walker said. “We’ve had our ups and downs this season, but we always try to find ourselves and play together as a team.

The win improved the Trojans to 7-11-3 overall.

Monroe coach Ian Cooke said it was a strong performance from his team not only for the way they controlled possession, but also the way they kept their composure. Emotions can often run high against Bedford, especially this year with so many close scores.

“We felt in both earlier games (against Bedford) that we did enough to win even though they were tight,” Cooke said. “Tonight was similar. We carried the game, we had the majority of possession and we moved the ball well. We didn’t lose our composure. It’s easy to get frustrated in games like that, but we were very patient.”