After enduring a physical confrontation against Atlantic Shores Christian School with a 4-1 victory, Holy Cross’ boys soccer team is headed for its third Virginia Independent Schools Division II Final Four in six seasons at Sports Backer Stadium in Richmond.
Monday’s quarterfinal game was hosted by Virginia Episcopal School since Holy Cross’ field is not regulation length.
In Thursday’s semifinal, the Gaels (19-5-1) likely will face Highland School, the No. 1 seed and defending VIS Division II state champion, which plays in another quarterfinal today. Highland beat Holy Cross 4-1 in the Seven Hills Classic in early September, also played at VES.
Atlantic Shores tried to take the direct approach against the Gaels and it worked early on, with David Rouleau scoring unassisted from deep inside the box.
But Holy Cross opted to work the ball outside and cross it back into the box and the strategy worked as the Gaels struck for two goals in a three-minute span late in the first half, both off crossing passes from the left sideline.
Holy Cross coach Randy Turille had talked to the coach from Covenant, which lost to Atlantic Shores in Friday’s first round, and picked up some valuable information.
“The scouting report was to get the ball wide and get around the corners,” Turille said. “That’s where you can beat them. I told them to keep going (for the corner) and we’ll be successful. We kept going down each side and they finally broke down.”
Iseman Knight headed in a cross from Michael Zook inside the near post for the tying goal, three and a half minutes before halftime. Then, less than 30 seconds before the break, Will Hickey launched an assist over the defense to Cedric Anderson at the far post, where he made a chest trap on one bounce and blasted a short-ranged shot into the back of the net for the winning tally.
Thirty seconds into the second half, Joe Bruzek re-tied Anderson for the team scoring lead with his 28th goal of the season, finishing a steal and breakaway with a right-footed shot past diving Atlantic Shores goalkeeper Jason Roadcap inside the left corner, extending the Gaels’ advantage to 3-1.
“I always tell the guys, the first and last five minutes of each half are the most important,” Turille said. “It’s crucial not to give up goals and to try to score goals and we took advantage of that. That was huge. They came out and scored early on us and we got the payback at the end of the half and the start of the second half.”
Chris Roy finished the scoring after Zook handled a long clearing pass from Daniel Sterne and fired a crossing pass by Roadcap that Roy got a foot on for a perfectly timed redirection.
Meanwhile, on the opposite end, Gaels goalkeeper Nolan Mann, one of eight sophomores on the team, made a few spectacular saves, sliding to his right to make a kick save of a point-blank shot by Seahawks senior forward Philip Tull near the end of the second half. Mann finished with eight saves, twice as many as Roadcap.
In a game that featured a red card to Atlantic Shores senior defender Daniel O’Malley, who threw a punch at Zook near his bench, and a number of aggressive slide tackles, the Gaels kept their cool and came out on top.
“We’ve played a lot of games like that, especially with Division I teams,” Turille said. “A lot of times, we’re smaller than the opposition. The guys have learned they’ve got to battle in individual battles, to stand up and be strong to hold onto the ball or to defend. They’ll battle through anything.”
He said the Gaels’ non-stop work ethic is what earned their trip back to Richmond.
“These guys have worked super hard,” Turille said. “The last couple years have been a struggle for us, but they’ve continued to work hard in the offseason. They’re always going as hard as they can possibly go. We want to outwork the other team.”
That certainly will have to be the case in the state final four.
“We’re going to have to go after them,” Turille said. “We have to put the pressure on the opposite team. Never let up.”
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