Clinton 3, SW Randolph 1

Ray Criscoe

Randolph Hub

MATTHEWS — In wasn’t the final result they wanted, but Southwestern Randolph’s junior-dominated soccer team came out ahead in many ways despite a 3-1 loss to Clinton in the 2-A state title game Friday night.

While the Dark Horses didn’t wholly dominated the Cougars as the score might suggest, they did a lot of right things at the right times and the Cougars not as many. In the end, it was that simple, one of many lessons they’ll take from this finale.

As a result, the more experienced Dark Horses, the No. 1 seed in the East, returned home as deserved champions. The young Cougars, the No. 1 seed in the West, returned home better for the experience and eager to put lessons learned to good use next season.

“This has been a pretty long journey for us to get to this point,” SWR Head Coach Jimmy Walker said. “We’re proud to be here and I think we represented our school well. We just came up short tonight. 

“Our boys played well at times and at times we didn’t, and when we didn’t, it showed up. I’m happy with the success this program has established now so we set the bar pretty high for next year, losing just two senior starters. I feel like this is our moment next year. The bar is there for them to jump over next year and I think they’ve got it in them to do it.”

As the game unraveled on Friday, the teams looked largely evenly matched early on, and when the scoring started, it stayed that way. 

Clinton struck first, with a nice through pass in the box setting up Holden Spell to find the left corner of the net.

But the Cougars answered just 27 seconds later when pressure from Jonathan Lopez in the Dark Horses’ left corner produced a turnover. A quick pass to the cougars’ leading scorer Fernando Hernandez gave him a chance to step to his right to find an opening near the front of the box and tie the game 1-1 at the 22:45 mark.

As time went on, however, Clinton’s experience edge began to show. In fact, Clinton looked more like the Southwestern Randolph team of the previous five playoff games than the Cougars themselves did. Crisp passing, anticipation of SWR passing lanes, bursting into deadly counters off mistakes and turnovers, it all started to pile up.

And at the 3:28 mark, the dam burst. In a sequence of a the ball pinballing in and at the outer edge of the box, with SWR unable to clear the ball cleanly, Brandt Sumner (the eventual championship game MVP) found it at his feet and put some reverse spin on a shot out front that curled away from keeper Jonathan Perez and into the goal for a 2-1 edge, a deflating outcome heading into the half. 

In the second half, Clinton’s pressure continued and the Dark Horses grabbed the desired two-goal edge when a Cougar defender whiffed on a rolling cross in front of the goalie and David Paz knocked in an easy open shot for a 3-1 advantage with 31:30 to go.

As time went on, Clinton passed the eye test of playing the better game. A deeper bench led to fresher legs and consistent pressure, and the Cougars’ often unforced errors made it difficult for SWR to turn the tide.

That’s not to say they didn’t try. Hernandez hit the crossbar on a pair of shots in the final 20 minutes. He was just wide right on another, and in another sequence, he couldn’t get quite the mustard he needed on a header to get it past the keeper. 

Perhaps the weight of the season, the packed crowds from both teams filling the stands, fatigue from the big field all came together. If so, another lesson learned for next season.

On the other hand, erase a couple of bad defensive plays, lower a couple of crossbar shots a few inches and maybe we’re talking about a different outcome. But that’s soccer. Yet another lesson to absorb.

“I thought we surprised ourselves at how much possession we could keep on them and tactically we had a good game plan, but we just didn’t get enough good performances out of several people,” Walker said. “And the field really bothered us, playing on a big field like this. It kind of slowed us down a little bit. We got in love with keeping possession and not attacking. That’s when we’re at our best, when we have teams on their heels, and I attribute that to a little bit of nerves and not ready for the big lights. But as I told the boys when they were getting their awards, that is us next year.”

Indeed, in the end, the Cougars learned a lot about themselves and the game:

- Consider what could have happened after learning about the death of a key player, teammate and friend Pedro Ortiz, in a tragic shooting that was not intended for him. They could have fallen apart, but instead they united around his memory, dedicated the season to him and rode that emotional journey to a state championship game.

“What happened to our brother, our teammate, he was a starter for us,” Aaron Avina said after the loss. “We had teammates who had to step up for him and it’s kind of hard stepping up for someone when you were playing jayvee or sitting on the bench. This season was all for him, even if we didn’t win tonight, we made so many accomplishments.”

- As a No. 1 seed, their playoff run consisted of all home games, which in their case is the school’s football field. Likely most other games they played during the year were also on football fields. The championship game was played on a true soccer field, with wider and deeper dimensions. And the game was played with a gametime temperature of 41 degrees. They’ll be better prepared to tackle different playing conditions next year.

- SWR’s team is made up of mostly juniors. The Dark Horses were a little more senior dominated. The Cougars will enter next year knowing — not learning — what it takes to get to their targeted destination. Clinton looked more poise, like it had learned that lesson. The Cougars now know how to reach the championship game. Learn a few lessons from the Dark Horses and the title could be theirs next season.

As for this season? It’s safe to say Pedro Ortiz would have been proud.

“It didn’t end how we wanted it to but we had a great season, winning regionals, winning conference, and the tragedy we went through brought us together and helped make this team great,” Hernandez said. “I think this year was just a learning experience and I think next year we’ll be ready for it.”

“! watched these boys grow into men,” Walker said. “They’re not supposed to have to go through what they’ve gone through. We’ve overcome so much it’s not going to help us just for next year but it’s going to help them throughout their whole lives. They’re gonna look back on this time — and they might look back on this when they watch game film with some regrets — but they’ve overcome so much, anything they’re going to encounter in life, they’ve already seen that and done that and understand how to get over things. And not only that, but honor people in a way to look at life a bit differently.

“So I’m extremely proud of them. I don’t know where they’re going to end up in life but I’ve got a feeling they’re going to be very successful.”