Hampshire, Marian C. to resume Monday
A few brief sprinkles and trickles of lightning didn't appear to threaten the first 80 minutes of the Class 2A boys soccer regional final in Hampshire Saturday evening. But in retrospect, they were warning signs for inclement weather on a much larger scale and complete irony for a team named the Hurricanes.
Just as Hampshire (15-6-1) and Marian Central (22-2-0) were about to take the field for sudden death overtime, the skies opened. Lightning bolted through the night's sky while those sprinkles from earlier came down in buckets. It kept the players off the field for a good half hour and all the way until Monday night, where a 2-2 tie will resume in overtime at 5 p.m.
Might have Mother Nature felt the kids needed extra rest for overtime? John Gosling's Whip-Purs are in favor of that.
“I think it's good,” Gosling said. “We're a couple players short. They're a physical team, this gives us an opportunity to rest. And that's what we need.
“We were sucking air there at the end. It'll be a good rest and we'll come out rejuvenated.”
Marian Central tired them out and gained momentum after being down 2-0 with nearly 25 minutes left in the championship. An aggressive second half Hurricane team hoped to keep their string of regional championships (two-straight) alive and watched midfielder Troy Higgins sneak one inside the left post in the 15 minutes in. Forward Zach Radwanski's free kick sailed in for the game-tying goal seven minutes later to knot it at 2.
Hampshire, who appeared to be on its way up 2-0, was back on its heels, having trouble stopping the Hurricanes' attack.
“We know they're a physical team,” Gosling said. “We worked all week making sure we play quick otherwise you're going to get whacked, whether you have the ball or not.”
Marian had several other chances to seal it in regulation but shots either went wide, over the crossbar or stopped by Hampshire goalkeeper Marcus Quick, who made 10 saves. During one sequence in the second half, Marian had three-straight corner kicks but nothing came of them. The Hurricanes dominated possession for most of the match, especially in the first half.
“We felt we played well in the first half,” Hurricanes coach Kristian Rockall said. “The speech at halftime centered around accepting a positive attitude.”
Hampshire's potential first regional championship since 2008 appeared imminent early on. Midfielder Andrew Obmalay squeaked one in left side 11 minutes in from Jason Bishop on a play that started from a free kick to go up 1-0. Hampshire's second goal came from Robert Lucio, assisted by Bryan Contreras in 8th minute of the second half.
“2-0 is always dangerous,” Ismael Morales exclaimed. “Once they get the first one, we lose confidence. Once they get the second one, it goes from there.”
The teams will resume fresh on Monday and the question is in this unique position is if you change things or not? Gosling says he might, but says “it's exciting and its tough to prepare for.”
“I'll get away from it. I'll ask the boys to get away from it and comeback Monday. You keep focusing on it from now till Monday's game, you're over thinking it. They don't need it, and I don't need it.”