COLLEGE PARK -- Before their first-ever Class AAA state semifinal match against Woodward Academy Wednesday, East Hall boys soccer coach Chris Horton said he had no doubt his Vikings could pull off their biggest upset yet.
"We'll need to play a perfect defensive game and find a goal somewhere. One could win it," he said.
Unfortunately for the Vikings, how right he was.
The Vikings did everything right for 79:07 matching the heavily-favored War Eagles the entire game. But a controversial foul by Sherman Lucero against the War Eagles Chris Kendall in the box with 52.6 seconds left set up a penalty kick for Nolan Hall.
Hall pushed the shot past East Hall keeper Emmanuel Andrade for the game's only goal to give Woodward Academy a 1-0 victory and a spot in Friday's state title match against St. Pius.
Despite the heartbreaking finish, Horton was still smiling afterwards.
"What can you do. They won't call that very often but it's part of the game," he said. "We had a great season and I couldn't have asked anything more of these guys. I thought we played them toe-to-toe the whole way."
Woodward Academy turned up the offensive pressure in the second half after a scoreless first half. The War Eagles had a half-dozen chances in the second half using high-bouncing passes to create sideline runs.
War Eagles head coach Matt Holmes knew it was a gamble but got the reward he was looking for.
"East Hall has some very skilled players and they played us tough," Holmes said. "I was a little worried about exposing our defense to their runs but it paid off. We got the call and was able to get the goal. It was a typical semifinal match."
Despite being the reigning defending Class AAA champions, the War Eagles (13-6-1) have played as underdogs after graduating 10 players to the college ranks from a year ago.
"For this team to get back to the finals after the talent we lost from last year is remarkable," Holmes said.
Despite having less than a minute left, East Hall (13-4-1) managed one last push creating a corner kick with 25 seconds left but the War Eagles were able to clear the ball as time expired.
Injuries to some key players along the way drained the depth of the Vikings and Horton said it played a factor in the second half as Woodward Academy constantly brought in players with fresh legs.
"We just couldn't sub enough to match their speed and it finally caught up with us," Horton said. "They are a very quick team."
East Hall had several opportunities to grab the lead in the second half. Edgar Cerrano just missed on a 30-yard blast with 18 minutes left that sailed high and Arnold Lopez just missed a connection with Santos Almendares on a direct kick with 16:30 left.
Both times Woodward would form a counter-attack to keep the offensive pressure on the Vikings defense. But each time the East Hall defense would deny the War Eagles.
The game-winning play was set up on a turnover by the East Hall offense that the War Eagles counter-attacked down the right side. Kendall slipped past Lucero and dribbled toward the goal. Lucero was stride-for-stride with Kendall and the two bumped and Kendall went down just as he was lining up a shot.
The first half was played to a scoreless draw but both teams had chances to break out on top. Woodward Academy would get the only corner of the half six minutes into the game and Kendall would just miss a header wide left after a series of headers left him with an open shot.
The Vikings first scoring chance came two minutes later when Cerrano connected with Jason Mendoza on a beautiful crossing pass. But Mendoza's lofting shot sailed just over the crossbar.
The defenses would then clamp on both offenses as most of the action was played in the middle of the field.
Woodward Academy had two breakaways stopped by offsides calls and East Hall had two potential breakaways ended on sliding tackles by War Eagles defenders.
After a long pass resulted in a throw in near the Woodward corner, Cerrano would get possession with a wide open goal just 15 yards out but the War Eagles' Joshua Cohen would steal the ball as Cerrano was lining up for the shot.
The Vikings' last scoring chance came with nine minutes left in the half when Julio Avila placed a nice crossing pass to Adolfo Adame but Adame's shot sailed high.
Woodward's last scoring chance of the half was thwarted when an East Hall defender stole the ball from a speeding Nolan Stubbs as he was heading for a breakaway with just over five minutes left.
NOTES: East Hall had won a season-high seven straight before Wednesday's loss. ... The Vikings came into the match having allowed just one goal in the playoffs. ... East Hall also was 3-0 on the road in the playoffs coming into the match, including a pair of 1-0 wins over Blessed Trinity and North Murray. ... Woodward Academy has won all four of its playoff games by two goals or less, including a 2-1 victory over North Hall in the first round.
Saturday
February 8th, 2025
12:19AM
