Herndon runs past Wakefield to win first boys' soccer title since 1986

Washington Post

3 days ago

GLEN ALLEN, Va. — The Virginia Class 6 boys' soccer final sat on a knife's edge as the second half progressed Saturday morning. In some ways, the scoreless, deadlocked game was not surprising. Herndon and Wakefield, two teams that had squared off three times already this spring, had each played 100 minutes of state semifinal soccer Friday. Both schools had earned their spot in this championship game via penalty shootout.
So on Saturday, two tired teams were seeking just one quality chance. In the final 22 minutes of the game, Herndon produced three of them to earn a 3-0 win and run away with its first state title since 1986 at Glen Allen High School.
Senior Otu Bisong scored what would be the game-deciding goal in the 58th minute with a header into the top right corner. The assist was a corner kick from junior Angel Romero-Rivas. Bisong celebrated by running to the corner flag and celebrating in front of the seniors from last year's team, a group that fell in the state semifinals to eventual champion Cosby.
'After scoring that goal, seeing all of our seniors that graduated from when we fell short in the semis last year — celebrating with them will be a really good memory,' said Bisong, an Old Dominion signee. 'It just felt really nice to show them that we won it for them.'
The loss of that 12-player senior class raised doubts, both internally and externally, as to whether the Hornets (16-5-1) could return to the level of last year's team.
A 4-4 start to the season could've exacerbated those concerns. Instead, Herndon went 12-1-1 in its last 14 games to claim the program's second state title.
'More than a tactical shift — that definitely helped us — it was just a mindset shift,' Coach Jordan Steffey said. 'Coming in 4-4 was not our standard. So I asked the guys, 'Do we change the standard, or do we pick ourselves back up and go to where we can?' They answered the call.'
Herndon's second-half scoring outburst ended Wakefield's improbable postseason run. The Warriors overcame a two-goal deficit in its region quarterfinal against Chantilly, downed No. 4 McLean on penalty kicks in the region semifinal and topped No. 9 Robinson and No. 2 Gar-Field in penalty kick shootouts during their second-ever state tournament appearance.
Saturday's title game finished 3-0 after senior Bilal Hawa scored a penalty kick won by Eric Marenco in the 64th minute and junior Amanueil Mequanint bagged a goal on an assist by Bisong to ice the victory in the 71st minute.
'We've always had our eyes set on states,' Hawa said. 'The years before, we went to regional finals, district finals every year. We knew starting the season 4-4, that's not going to cut it. We just realized it's our final year for all the seniors and we had to do what we had to do to make it far.'