OAKWOOD — The Johnson boys soccer team claimed perhaps its biggest scalp in program history on Friday night – and the Knights have about two days to enjoy it before it’s right back to the grind.
Johnson fought back from a two-goal deficit to defeat Dalton 5-4 in a battle of respective No. 1s at The Dungeon, Jorge Sandoval scoring with just 2:57 remaining to knock off a Catamounts team accustomed to state titles (five since 2013) and national rankings.
The breathless victory sparked a party atmosphere on the field and in the stands and left Johnson coach Frank Zamora beaming – at least for the moment.
“You see the community celebrating this and you see how much it means; a win like this allows us to believe we can have something special this season,” Zamora said. “But we can only celebrate this weekend and then it’s right back to work on Monday; we’ve got some important region games coming up.”
It may have been a non-region showdown, but the contest certainly carried an air of import between the two previously undefeated programs. And why not? The visiting Catamounts are defending Class 6A champions. Johnson, meanwhile, finished 2021 as Class 5A runner-up.
Thanks to an unyielding determination, the Knights now know how to dethrone a champ.
Two goals from Sandoval sandwiched around strikes from Ramon Aguilar, Christian Robles, and Jeffrey Castillo – plus some heroics in goal from Kristian Hernandez – led Johnson back from a 3-1 first-half deficit and clinched the win after Dalton knotted the score at 4-4 with just 8:38 left to play.
“We never gave up, and this shows how we can fight back. To go down to a powerhouse program like that and come back so many times is definitely satisfying,” said Zamora, whose program also has a state title to its name in 2018. “That’s why we scheduled to Dalton to see what we could learn about ourselves, and we can be proud of this performance tonight.”
The Knights (12-0-1) learned that their speed in attack can help make the difference against a powerful foe comfortable in retaining possession, as Sandoval scored his first on a counterattack and then drew a penalty kick to help Johnson notch its first two goals. Likewise, it knows it can depend on Sandoval to keep a cool head under pressure after he buried the winner from 15 yards after creating just enough space for himself in front of the Catamounts (9-1-2) defense.
“Give Jorge an opportunity one-on-one and he’s lethal,” Zamora said.
The junior’s deciding goal followed on the heels of the game’s most jaw-dropping moment, courtesy Dalton’s Fernando Guerrero, who launched a 30-yard shot that gave Hernandez no chance. The shot arrowed into the upper right corner of the Knights’ net to make it 4-4 – less than one minute after Hernandez had saved a Dalton penalty kick to preserve a lead earned on Castillo’s header just six minutes into the second half.
The second half space between scores proved a veritable goal drought after a wild first half that ended at 3-3. Johnson reached halftime in the ascendancy after the Knights got to grips with Dalton’s set-piece prowess. The Catamounts scored off two corner kicks and a direct free kick over the first 40 minutes to temporarily stun the hosts.
“It’s so important to be focused on those set pieces,” Zamora said. “In the modern game, set pieces are hugely important, and we weren’t as focused as we should have been early on, but we learned from it and got better as the game wore on.”
Dalton’s dead-ball prowess set the game alight 10 minutes after the opening kickoff, as Yahir Paez ran on to a low, driven corner kick and blasted an 18-yard shot that skimmed off a Johnson defender to confound Hernandez. Less than four minutes later, the Catamounts doubled their advantage on another set piece. This time Ezekiel Ortiz slammed home a free kick from the top left side of the Johnson penalty area for 2-0 lead with 26:38 remaining in the first half.
Rocked, the Knights steadied themselves almost immediately, and Sandoval provided the spark. The always-dangerous attacker sprinted on to a one-two and into the Dalton penalty area, rounding keeper Isaac Meza to make it 2-1.
Both teams still had plenty of firepower to spare, however, and Dalton restored its two-goal advantage on another corner kick two minutes later. Paez again proved too much on a set piece, as he reacted first to a loose ball and drilled another deflected shot past Hernandez for a 3-1 lead.
Again, the Knights responded. And, again, it was Sandoval making the difference with his speed, sprinting on to a first-time pass and into the Catamount penalty area before Meza brought him down to concede a penalty kick. Meza was cautioned for the foul, and Aguilar stepped up to stroke the spot kick into the left corner to trim the Knights’ deficit to 3-2.
Buoyed, Johnson continued to press forward, and the Knights earned their reward when Robles knotted the score at 3-3. This time Johnson reacted first to a corner kick, as Robles rolled home a looping back post header from Landon Avalos with 9:22 remaining in the half. The Knights rode that momentum into the restart, as Castillo nodded the home side into its first lead via a long throw-in from Edgar Vazquez with 34 minutes left to play.
After that it was time for everyone involved to take a breath, and the game comparatively drifted. Both the Knights and Catamounts kept defenders in place and launched balls forward to isolated attackers, knowing the next goal could make all the difference.
The contest roared back to life when Dalton earned its penalty – only to watch Hernandez’s heroics. But Guerrero’s colossal strike underpinned a wild final 10 minutes, eclipsed only by Sandoval’s calm finish to clinch a non-region game more worthy of a championship setting.
Johnson will return to the pitch at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in a region 8-5A contest at Loganville.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2022/3/1085140/boys-soccer-sandovals-cool-head-conquers-dalton-in-5-4-win-for-johnson