With four made penalty kicks in a row plus Ben Albritton’s point-blank save against Bryce Struckmeyer in the third shootout round, Veterans High’s boys soccer team gave itself one more ray of hope in winning the Region 2-AAAA championship. Coming off the program’s first region loss since 2011, the Warhawks rebounded from an early deficit Friday to tie Perry High in regulation time and win the overtime shootout 4-1.
Playing at home, Veterans’ four penalty kicks in the overtime were tallied by David Gomez, Joseph Faletto, John Pilcher and Mark Yeager.
For Perry, Micah Lehenbauer made his PK in the opening round. But there was a wide miss in the second round. The Panthers chose to take the second shots of each round, and it was 3-1 when Albritton saved Struckmeyer’s attempt right into his gut.
All the Warhawks needed was the make by Yeager to end the match and raise their region record to 5-1. Veterans has one more match in 2-AAAA left against Rutland High at home on April 12.
Mary Persons, the boys team in first place, is 5-0 with matches still to play against West Laurens and Westside.
Perry dropped to 3-2 in league play. Its two remaining 2-AAAA contests are with Howard and Baldwin, the Howard match taking place at home April 23.
Play between the Warhawks and Panthers was incredibly even throughout 80 regulation minutes and 10 in overtime. The match didn’t have a corner kick until 22:12 of the first half, and the home team had it only to see Struckmeyer get the final clearing kick away from his box.
Lehenbauer went on a long run towards the opposite net, and it seemed to take forever for the soccer ball to get in his area. Albritton kept his spot steadily and made the save.
Otherwise, no team seemed to get a hold of the ball for more than two passes before the other side took it away. Among those hustling for Veterans were Heath Hosch, Pilcher, Gomez, Luke Boyd and Sean Joiner. Perry received the same type of effort from Colton Armistead, Max Merritt, Nick Hall, Luke Lineberger and Tay Owens.
At 19:40, Lineberger had an onside pass to Armistead, who missed his shot going left. Sean Swan, Perry goalkeeper, caught a 25-yard free kick from Yeager at the 17-minute mark.
Lehenbauer had the next two best chances for a goal. On a pass from Armistead at 11:17, the ball hit off a side post. About 80 seconds later Lehenbauer got inside the box for a close range attempt Albritton saved.
Perry’s pressure during this two-minute stretch paid off for Hall, who scored at 8:37 from an assist by Armistead.
Veterans looked for the tying goal at 6:25 when Pilcher unleashed a 19-yard blast, but Swan made the save. The Warhawks received a free kick from 25 yards away at 4:20, but Struckmeyer cleared the ball using his head.
Early in the second half, Perry had an injury scare when Merritt and Swan collided in the box. Merritt needed help getting off the field, but about 20 minutes later he was back in the match.
Much like the first half, play was so even for a long time. Daniel Ward took Perry’s first serious shot on goal when Lineberger ran all over the field to gain control at the 27-minute mark. He found Ward in the middle of the field, but Albritton saved the shot.
It would be the Warhawks scoring that leveling goal at 22:45 when officials awarded a free kick from about 30 yards away. Gomez took it, which turned into a lead and assist for Faletto.
Most of the remaining scoring chances belonged to the home team, which sent a pair of balls high and saw Swan make two diving saves. Lineberger and Owens made some good takeaways for the Panther defense, and at 17:02 Ward was able to make a charge on the right only to be denied by Albritton.
There was more back-and-forth action led by Warhawks Dillon Garrett, Cody Scarborough, Joiner and Faletto, plus Panthers Jharron Henley, Owens, Lineberger and Lehenbauer. Struckmeyer and Ryan LeValley hit big clearing kicks for Perry, and Gomez and David Vassey came through with clutch defense against a Ward charge with less than seven minutes to play.
Hall won several 50-50s and made a midfield steal that Joiner countered at the five-minute mark. Merritt broke up heavy dribbling from Yeager, and at 2:25 Swan saved Yeager’s free kick.
Even overtime had its close calls. Garrett took a shot Swan couldn’t fully control but received help on the clear from Lineberger. Lehenbauer was denied by Garrett at 1:30 of the first OT, and in the final minute Albritton saved a Ward 20-yard free kick.
Garrett provided more clutch defense in the second five-minute half, as did LeValley, Owens and Armistead.
VHS GIRLS WIN 4-0
Veterans’ Lady Warhawks had two early first half goals from Myranda Wyatt and Khayla Owens and went on to handle Perry High’s girls to remain undefeated in Region 2-AAAA. With a 6-0 record, Veterans will still need to win the regular-season finale with Rutland High on April 12 to secure the championship for girls soccer (unless Rutland, which has one loss in the region, falls to West Laurens on April 9).
Rutland’s one setback was to Howard High, but Howard lost its encounter with Veterans 1-0.
When the two county rivals played Friday on the Lady Warhawk field, the home team kept the soccer ball on its attacking end. Being down 2-0, Perry goalkeeper Debbie Velazquez had several routine stops, but one save against Sarah Lucas with eight minutes left in the half wasn’t so easy.
Savannah Smith of Veterans was the first to all of the keeper punts at midfield. Breanna Gomez made a steal at the five-minute mark, and from Lucas’ dribbling Owens had a shot that hit one of the posts. Owens got the ball back at 4:20 for a low shot from the right corner, but it was saved.
Velazquez also saved the final shot of the half at 1:28 from Lucas’ pass in the box to Smith.
Taylor Palladeno minded the goal for Perry in the second half while Velazquez played on the back line. Palladeno’s first save was at 36:47 against Smith.
Nothing changed in the score until exactly halfway through when Lucas won a free kick and connected from 25 yards away.
The fourth goal was from Jada Foor, who ran up from the defensive line to receive a corner kick at the top of the box.
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