While evenly splitting the last 18 Washington Catholic Athletic Conference titles, Gonzaga and DeMatha have consistently spent entire seasons among the area’s best soccer teams. This year, though, the road to Maureen Hendricks Field on the first Sunday night of November was not as smooth as usual.
The Eagles won one of their first seven games. The Stags won back-to-back regular season games only twice. Still, the rivals found the right form by the playoffs to make it to the title game and meet for the trophy.
At the Maryland SoccerPlex in Boyds, Gonzaga scored early, lost its goalie to a red card, allowed a stunning equalizer and fought back to win in overtime, 2-1.
Much like the Eagles’ season, this one wasn’t a straightforward success.
“The theme of our season is one step back to go two steps forward, and that red card was definitely a step back,” senior Evan Stipano said. “But holding on with 10 men for over 40 minutes and then coming back to get the win, that’s the sort of effort we prepared to give all season long.”
Twelve minutes into the game, Gonzaga sophomore Ryan Elie powered a header inside the near post to score. The Eagles (14-6-3) continued to dominate possession until seven minutes before halftime, when DeMatha (10-8-3) played a long pass into space in front of senior Justin Gielen.
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Gonzaga senior goalie Nick Gerlach took off on a dead sprint. Twenty-five yards from goal, Gielen reached the ball first. Gerlach extended his limbs to block Gielen’s path, but the striker touched the ball toward the goal while drawing contact from the charging goalkeeper.
The referee held up the red card for Gerlach. The Eagles had 47 minutes to survive with a one-goal lead.
They lasted 17.
With half an hour left in the match, DeMatha junior Scott Little smashed a curling shot past substitute goalie Gonzalo Bartoli Pinero from 30 yards out to tie the game.
“After the goal, we doubled down on our work rates and got back as much as possible,” Stipano said. “Our defense did a great job as they always do on this field. It seems like every time we play on this field, they raise their level so much.”
Six minutes into overtime, Gonzaga senior Ethan Boshart was knocked down while chasing a cross in the box, and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Senior Ryan Teuschl fired a low shot down the middle. DeMatha sophomore goalie Brian Cruz deflected it off the post, but Teuschl tapped in his own rebound for the golden goal.
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“I saw it deflect off [Cruz’s] gloves, and I waited for a second. Once it hit the post, it bounced right to me,” Teuschl said. “I just had to be cool, calm and collected and just put it away.”
With the win, Gonzaga has won 10 of the last 19 WCAC boys’ soccer titles compared with DeMatha’s nine championships during that span.
It’s certainly not unrealistic to think that the Stags will have a chance to even that series a year from now.
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