James Wood falls on penalty kicks to Jefferson Forest in boys' semifinals

FOREST — One hundred minutes of soccer couldn’t separate James Wood and Jefferson Forest in the Class 4 semifinals. A 30-minute lightning delay in overtime didn’t change the physical contest one bit.

In the end, the difference was two saves.

Jefferson Forest’s Christian Hecker stopped a pair of Colonels shots when the contest came down to penalty kicks and the Cavaliers ended James Wood’s record season 3-2 on Monday.

Jefferson Forest (14-0), the 2011 state champion, advanced to Wednesday’s title game at Smithfield. The Packers defeated Chancellor 3-1 in the other semifinal. James Wood, which set a school record for wins and captured the first region title in school history, finishes 15-1.

“You hate in soccer when it comes down to penalties,” James Wood coach Brian Sullivan said. “Our guys fought and fought and fought. They battled and they were hurting. I’ve never seen so much blood on jerseys afterward. They just left it all on the field which is why I think it might hurt that much more because they poured their heart into it.

“… We played the game of our lives and it was in the state semifinals. It came down to penalties and we were that close to making an historic moment.”

“It’s a state semifinal,” said Chris Garcia, who scored both goals for the Colonels. “It was very rough from the start until the end. We played what, more than an hour-and-a half? It was very tough, but I think we came out and played from minute one. It was a great game.”

Garcia had given the Colonels a 2-1 lead with 14:37 left on a penalty kick, but Jefferson Forest’s John Toney scored his second goal of the contest two minutes later to knot the score again.

Neither team had any dangerous threats in the four five-minute overtimes that followed. Lightning interrupted the second overtime period with 2:17 left and Sabre Stadium was cleared of fans.

Those that stayed saw Hecker shine as each team lined up for round of five penalty kicks.

The Colonels went first, with standout Seth Hammond taking the initial shot. Hammond, who had been robbed twice by Hecker on spectacular saves in regulation, fired a low shot toward the left post, but Hecker got a piece of it and deflected it wide.

“Just choose a side and commit to it,” Hecker said of his strategy. “It’s not about trying to see what they’re actually going to do. It’s about your guess and committing to it.”

Jacob Gong started a string of four makes as he and teammates Quinn Mackey, Zach Hinton and Toney were able to beat James Wood keeper Brandon Dunn. Erick Nolasco, Garcia and Jonathan Resendiz Trejo had makes for the Colonels.

With it 4-3, Hecker then ended the contest by diving to his left to stop Connor Ballentine’s shot toward the right corner. He was swarmed upon by teammates and fans, while the Colonels shook their heads in disbelief.

“The first one, that’s a tone-setter,” Hecker said. “That’s making them think about what they have to do after that. The last one, that’s probably one of the best feelings I’ve ever had in my life.”

The contest was a contrast in styles from the start.

Jefferson Forest preferred long passes up the sidelines to its speedy strikers, while the Colonels controlled the ball through the midfield and looked to get opportunities for playmakers Hammond and Garcia.

The Cavaliers came out hot at the start and made the most of an early opportunity. After a throw-in, Chris Wiley’s pass deflected off a James Wood player to Toney, who headed it into the left corner of the net with 32:16 on the clock.

But from there, James Wood took control and possessed the ball for the majority of the half. The Colonels had three solid scoring chances before Garcia knotted the score.

Following a yellow card against a Jefferson Forest defender, Hammond sent a pass toward the right side of the goal from about 40 yards out. Garcia skied above the pack and redirected the ball past Hecker into the left corner of the net with 7:38 on the clock. Garcia and his teammates sprinted toward the visiting stands to celebrate with a large and vocal James Wood crowd.

“I know where Seth puts the balls,” Garcia explained. “He crossed that in and I saw it coming and jumped for it. I honestly closed my eyes. I didn’t even see that it went in. Thank God it went in and then we started celebrating.”

After halftime, the Colonels pushed the pace early and had three solid scoring opportunities that were just wide or over the net. Jefferson Forest nearly got the lead, but Dunn skied high to deflect a header and the rebound was shot wide.

Hecker then made the save of the match to rob Hammond. The James Wood senior unleashed a blast from just inside the box and had Hecker diving to his left, but the keeper managed to deflect the shot with his feet. Seven minutes late, he made another phenomenal save on a boomer from Hammond.

“Those were reaction saves,” Hecker said. “It was just a right place, right time kind of thing.”

“Oh my God, their keeper was unbelievable,” Sullivan said. “He stopped Seth from point-blank range. I’m halfway down the sideline getting ready to celebrate. … It’s sad to say, that if those bounces go in for him it’s a different game.”

The Colonels finally converted with about 15 minutes left in regulation. Hammond threaded the needle to find Garcia racing up the right sideline, who stopped and cut left in the box and was fouled. He easily converted the penalty kick at 14:37.

“I was running on the sideline and he found me like always,” Garcia said of Hammond’s pass. “I had a little cut inside the box and the guy tripped me.”

But the Cavaliers rebounded and tied the score two minutes later on a play eerily similar to the first goal. This time, Wiley’s header deflected to Toney, who once again buried it inside the left post.

“It won us the game basically,” Toney said of the game-tying goal. “Without that goal, we wouldn’t have gone to OT and without that goal we wouldn’t have gone to penalty kicks.”

From there neither team could score and the game would head to penalty kicks where Hecker was the hero.

Sullivan said he was proud of his team.

“We did did keep more possession,” he said. “We did move it side-to-side. We played our game. Unfortunately, sometimes they play their game a little bit better, but frankly they didn’t. It was 2-2 through 100 minutes. Their keeper guessed right and our keeper didn’t. That’s what it comes down to and it sucks ending it like that.”

Hinton, who led the Cavaliers defense, had high praise for the Colonels.

“They were phenomenal,” Hinton said. “Their midfielders and their forwards, they were the most active players I’ve ever played.”

The Colonels lose nine seniors off their roster.

“I love this team,” senior Hammond said. “We are like a big family. It’s up to the younger players to carry this on.”

“It was amazing,” senior Garcia said of the season. “Honestly it was a dream. I don’t think anybody would have believed that this season would have ended the way it did. We made it to the state semifinals. I’m just proud that we represented our school, our city and our people so good.”

Sullivan said he was honored by the support from the James Wood faithful as well as the other area high schools. He said he will miss his seniors, but knows they will look back fondly upon the season

“It will sting for 24 or 48 hours and then they are going to look back and realize — first region title in school history, school record for wins. They’re going to look back and say, ‘That was a true team.’ They enjoyed hanging out with each other. We’re a week away from the end of July and they still love being around each other and that’s rare for a high school team.”

“Unfortunately, it didn’t come out the way we played,” Garcia concluded about the semifinal loss. “That’s how soccer works sometimes.”

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