Colonels claim regular season title

May 17, 2011

By Robert Niedzwiecki
The Winchester Star       

WINCHESTER- James Wood boys' soccer coach Chris Hild pumped his fist toward the air, and the Colonels' players jogged out of the locker room to the applause of their families and fans.

The moment wasn't quite what James Wood imagined. But the reason for those clapping hands was exactly what the Colonels dreamed about all year.

By striking just before the lightning struck, the Colonels earned a 1-1 tie with Handley and clinched their first-ever Northwestern District championship and Region II tournament berth Tuesday at Kelican Stadium.

"It feels incredible," said beaming James Wood goalkeeper Elliot Shiben just after the announcement that no overtime would be played following a 40-minute lightning delay. "We set our goal at the beginning of the season, and that was to make it to regionals. To accomplish it, to be the first team in James Wood history to do it ... I can't even describe it. "This is what I dreamed of. The big-game season finale against your arch-rivals? As a little kid, you're like, 'I want to be under those lights. I want to be playing in that game.' To be able to be a part of that, and be a part of history, it's amazing."

James Wood (7-5-2, 5-2-1) needed only a tie to hold off second-place Handley (10-4-2, 4-2-2) and claim the district title, and the Colonels got the equalizer they needed with 90 seconds to go on a goal by Spencer Marfing.

Shiben's right shoulder was something of a question mark after he reinjured it on May 10 against Millbrook, but he said "it was going to take a bullet and a knife to keep me out of this game."

Handley (which finished with a 20-10 shot advantage, including 16-3 at the time of its 47th minute goal) came out fighting with every weapon it had, but the Judges didn't do enough to wound the Colonels for good.

Who knows what would have happened if there had been an overtime? But the Colonels emerged from their locker room as champions because players like Shiben refused to buckle under any circumstances this season.

"Probably some other teams would crack under that kind of pressure [that Handley applied], but our defense is very confident," Hild said. "We've seen teams come us at like that before."

Because Shiben made seven saves and Handley struggled to finish, all James Wood needed was one perfect moment of execution, and it was two defenders who got it started.

Senior stopper Jake Carpenter played a ball from the right sideline to the top of the penalty box, where senior sweeper Josh Marts waited. Marfing saw two defenders rush to Marts' back, so he cut to an opening on the back left side of the play and yelled for the ball.

It was a smart call. When Marts turned and delivered the ball, Marfing was wide open, and he buried the ball into the back of the net to set off a raucous celebration on the field, on the sideline and in the bleachers from James Wood's sizeable fan base.

"I don't even know what to say [about that moment]," junior midfielder Logan Yost said. "That was awesome."

Handley thought it had given itself a chance to celebrate numerous goals. Before freshman Ismel Trejo scored seven minutes into the second half, the Judges spent the game playing with just two defenders in hopes of generating as much offense as they could.

They did - passing well, possessing well, and firing some dangerous shots - but they couldn't hit the bull's eye enough.

The final two minutes of the first half were the hardest to take, because Eduardo Santiago hit the crossbar and Trey Ogilvie had a goal taken away because of an offsides call, which Judges coach Cosmo Balio thought was called on a player who wasn't involved in the play.

"We're struggling to find a guy who can step up to the ball and put it in the net," said Balio, who added that the Judges didn't do well finding open teammates after drawing attention by dribbling into the heart of the Colonels' defense.

Balio said his players were clearly disappointed, but he can't fault their effort and said they still have plenty of fight left in them. They'll just have a little more pressure on them in the district tournament than James Wood will.

"It's surreal," Hild said. "These kids work so hard. It's nice to finally have them getting some rewards here. We've never been a district champ, and we've never been to regionals, and I've been telling these guys that if you want your names to live forever, this is what you've got to do."

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