GAINESVILLE — If Atlanta's new professional soccer team can match the atmosphere on display at City Park on Friday night, it may count itself in good company.
There again, Atlanta United does not yet face a rivalry with the history of Gainesville-Johnson soccer.
The weight of Friday night's outcome could be measured in the celebratory pounding Innis Vierra took from his teammates after the freshman -- in his first varsity contest -- tapped in the winning goal in overtime, setting off wild celebrations in the stands and on the field, as the Knights held on for a 1-0 victory in Gainesville.
"Once every 365 days these two teams get a chance to go at it... I can't put words to describe what it means," Knights coach Brian Shirley said. "You look at the fans and the intensity in the stands -- it's the best rivalry in Georgia I think."
And there wasn't even a playoff or region race at stake on Friday. Yet the bragging rights between these two top 10 foes -- each currently ranked fourth in their respective classifications (Johnson in Class AAAAA, Gainesville in Class AAAAAA) -- are worth plenty.
"We've been going through a lot as a team," Shirley said. "And we needed something to pull us together, and this was it."
Vierra's deciding strike -- created by the industrious and irrepressible David Flores -- capped a contest that only truly flared to life in the second half as the two foes did their best to avoid a killer mistake through much of the proceedings. The Knights (4-0) slowly got to grips with the match after the half, however, striking the Gainesville crossbar and upright in regulation before finally breaking through in the first five-minute overtime period. The goal fired up the Red Elephants, however, and Gainesville laid seige to the Johnson goal in the second overtime frame -- only to be denied by a determined and alert defense, including some key saves from Knights goalkeeper Cooper Bowen.
"If you look back at this game, this is the ninth year in a row it -- save for one year when it ended in a tie -- that it's been decided by one goal," Shirley said.
The two teams determined to avoid any ties this time around, agreeing to play the non-region contest to a decisive end -- even though that appeared on the cards early, as each defended doggedly while avoiding full commitment to the attack.
"We did not want to get stretched too far, so we kind of poked and prodded there in the first half. And then in the second half we made some changes and felt comfortable about where to attack them," Shirley said. "And we exploited it to set up the goal."
Flores was the spark for Johnson both on the goal and throughout the second half, as his industry and creativity carved out three clear scoring chances. The first came when the junior gathered a loose ball off a rare Red Elephants (4-1) defensive miscommunication and rolled it to Felix Velasquez -- only for the junior to scoop his 12-yard shot over the Gainesville goal. With regulation draining away Flores again impressed, breaking into the Red Elephants penalty area and cutting a pass back to Rigo Campa. This time the shot struck the upright and Gainesville cleared.
Red Elephants striker Pedro Santos so nearly made the visitors pay for the miss just minutes later, gathering a long pass, running past two defenders and rounding Bowen -- only for a last-ditch toe poke from Herbert Figueroa to get the Knights off the hook as the ball ran away for a corner kick and the game drifted into extra time.
Johnson would not waste Flores' third charge. This time his run down the right side saw him whip the ball back across the goal for the waiting Vierra with 2:11 left in the first overtime.
"David was intense, scrappy; he plays with a huge heart, and he's all over the field," Shirley said of Flores. "He's such a thorn in the side to play against. I'm so proud of the guys tonight. They kept plugging away."
Gainesville's speed on the counter-attack -- most often through Cristian Rodriguez, Armando Hernandez, Alejandro Covarrubias and Dennis Turcios -- has carved open a number of teams already this season, and Johnson set out to deny that. And the first half played out in a manner to be expected between two teams so well familiar with each other. Like two prizefighters probing for weaknesses but afraid to take a sucker punch, the Knights and Red Elephants attacked on the periphery but rarely fully committed, carving out half-chances and long-range shots that failed to test either goalkeeper.
It was not due to a lack of effort from Gainesville's Hernandez. The right winger twice tore down the flank and served up tantalizing passes for teammates -- only to watch shots from Rodriguez and then Covarrubias miss the target.
Johnson, too, created some tense moments in the Red Elephants' defense, including a tough moment for Gainesville goalkeeper Augustin Garcia, who leapt to snag a Flores cross under pressure and came down hard, forcing him from the game with 20:36 remaining in the first half, as the Red Elephants inserted back-up Eduardo Bautista.
Bautista and his defense coped ably for much of the contest, however -- even when things did start to get hairy in the second half. But there was little they could do about Vierra's winner.
"We really needed this," Shirley said. "We've got a huge week ahead, and that was a big win against a great team. Gainesville is excellent; they're going to have an outstanding season."
Johnson travels to face Class AAAAA No. 1 McIntosh on Tuesday.
Gainesville, meanwhile, will look to bounce back when it travels to face Flowery Branch on Tuesday.
JOHNSON GIRLS 4,
GAINESVILLE 1
The Lady Knights (2-1-1) pounced for a 1-0 lead just over five minutes into the contest and pulled away for the win at City Park.
Maria Rivera scored early for Johnson and made it 2-0 before the half, striking with 16:50 remaining in the first period.
The Lady Knights kept the pressure on just after the interval, as Hannah Hester scored just 5:15 into the restart to make it 3-0. Carla Avalos made it 4-0 with 22:45 remaining.
The Lady Red Elephants (1-3-1) pulled a goal back through Kate Bush with 13:07 left to play.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2017/2/505531/soccer-ghs-johnson