Good things happen to those that wait. Nothing could better summarize the action Tuesday evening for the PH boys soccer team as they pulled a dramatic come from behind victory over Heritage – Leesburg at Gainer Field. It had clearly begun to look like they had waited too long.
Down 1-0 with the clock winding down below the final two-minute mark, Patrick Henry put on a desperate offensive push to beat the referee’s on-field whistle. Patriot forward Cameron Chavira, who had been blanketed all evening by the Heritage defense, blasted a rebound into the Pride net to send the game into overtime as the PH bench and Patriot crowd went into a frenzy. Heritage protested the goal, claiming a violation, but after a brief discussion among the officials, it was allowed to stand.
With momentum in their favor, PH senior midfielder Nick Lasky scored the winner with just over two minutes left in the second overtime with a high shot that beat Heritage goalkeeper Adam Knight. The Patriots held on and punched their ticket to the Region semifinal against North Stafford.
Heritage looked like it had all it needed after an unusually executed first half goal was the only score until the final heroics. On a side-in pass midway through the first, the Heritage player went up the berm that surrounds Gainer Field and ran down with such momentum that the throw was precisely launched in the air all the way to front of the PH goal where it was punched in by the Pride.
By Bill Turner [email protected]