​Bieri scores game-winner to help Grain Valley soccer top Truman

by Michael Smith


The Grain Valley boys soccer team was trying to put itself in a prime position to win the Suburban White Conference championship.

The Eagles entered Wednesday conference matchup with Truman with an 8-1 league record. The Patriots were on the verge of making the race for the conference title a little closer.

With the game tied at 1-all, Truman had multiple opportunities to score. Midway through the second half, Truman senior Joshua Deras had a wide-open shot at the goal line but his shot bounced off the crossbar. His teammate, junior Stephen Dixon, had the rebound attempt sail over the net.

Deras later caught Grain Valley goalkeeper Alex Tuttle off his line and had a shot at a wide-open net late in the second half, but he shot went over the goal.

The Patriots struggled to gets shots on the target, and the Eagles made them pay when senior Jackson Bieri scored the go-ahead score in the 64th minute to give his team a 2-1 victory, putting them in the driver’s seat to win the conference title.

Next week, Grain Valley (10-6, 9-1 conference) can clinch the conference title with wins over William Chrisman and Raytown.

“We’re trying to get off on the right foot after not having a good game not too long ago (a 1-0 loss to Belton on Monday),” said Grain Valley assistant coach Tyler Schmidt, who was helping fill in for head coach Brett Lewis, who was serving a one-game suspension for a red card. “Conference has been going well for us until recently. We came against a good Truman team that plays really physical. The conference title is not too far away from us right now.”

Bieri put the Eagles one step closer to a conference title when he fired a breakaway shot right at Truman goalkeeper Paul Vincent Chavez Jr. The ball was deflected by the freshman but Bieri knocked in the rebound for the winner.

“(Bieri) is one of my favorite people,” Schmidt said. “I got a chance to coach him on the middle school basketball team. The fact is he’s contributing at the varsity level. He’s got the grit and determination. He showed that on his goal. He hit it right at the goalkeeper but he’s a finisher. He imposed his will on the game.”

The Grain Valley senior forward said he thought his team outplayed the Patriots despite the opponent creating more opportunities in the second half.

“I thought we were better,” Bieri said. “We just one bad mistake that led to their goal. Other than that, we played good. We had great combinations in the midfield and finished out opportunities.”

The “bad mistake” Bieri was referring to was when the officials called Tuttle for a foul when trying to joust for a ball in the box as he knocked over Deras. Truman senior Jose Segovia knocked in a shot on the play but the goal was waived off because of the foul called.

Deras punched in the penalty kick to tie the score at 1-all.

Before that, Grain Valley took the lead in the 15th minute when sophomore defender Cooper Bousselot crossed the ball into the Truman 18-yard box. Chavez tried to corral the ball but it went through his hands and into the net for a score.

​“I was looking for (Bieri) near the back post,” Bousselot said. “I knew it would be open. They had their backup keeper in, so I figured I might as well test him. It went in.”