Hampshire boys drop 2-1 overtime thriller to Washington in section title
Oct. 21—ROMNEY, W.Va. — Hampshire had a dream start to the Class AAA, Region II, Section 2 title match on Thursday night, but Washington had a dream finish.
Brady Pyles connected with Dom Strawn to give Hampshire an early jolt leading 1-0 just 1:50 into the action. Washington settled and controlled play thereafter, forcing overtime on a Keegan Dardis tally.
It took only a minute for Washington to win it in the second overtime, as Johann Avarca buried the golden goal to outlast Hampshire, 2-1, at Rannells Field.
Hampshire, ranked No. 3 in the Area Top 5, finishes the season at 11-4-4.
"We just came out strong and hard and stepped to everything with full intensity, full energy," Hampshire head coach Robby Hott said. "Got that goal, had the momentum going. Then I think we just backed off a little bit, gave them a little more space. Then later, we started cramping up."
Hampshire entered the postseason as the top team in the section. The Trojans and Patriots split a pair of games during the regular season, with Hampshire winning 4-1 at home on Sept. 3 and Washington coming out on top 3-0 in Charles Town, West Virginia, on Oct 8.
At the onset, it looked like Hampshire was on track for a repeat of its last meeting at Rannells Field with the Eastern Panhandle squad. Yet, by overtime, the Patriots were the stronger side.
In the opening minutes of the second overtime, a long throw-in by Washington was headed out of bounds to give the Patriots a corner kick.
The corner was sent to the far post, and a Hampshire defender headed the service to the top of the box. Bryan Rodriguez dribbled in to draw up the defense and sent a pass to Avarca at the 10-yard line. Avarca slotted a one-timer inside the right post to send the Washington sideline into a frenzy.
"We kind of backed off and tried to play, which I don't like to do, a little big ball," Hott said. "We had more people running after the ball instead of playing for possession."
Following Strawn's early score, Dardis found the back of the net with 29:52 left in the half. The fans in Romney had to wait 81 minutes and four seconds for the next goal.
Hampshire had its chances for a go-ahead tally during the second half.
Strawn had a direct free kick at the 29-yard line in the middle of the pitch with 28:30 left, but the well-struck try curled just right of the crossbar.
Pyles dipped a corner kick into the box with 8:40 left, and a Hampshire player appeared to be shoved in the back but no penalty kick was awarded.
Hampshire keeper Mason Hott made multiple important saves throughout in the loss, the biggest a sliding stop on a breakaway chance for Washington with 24:30 to play.
The result may not have been what the Trojans had hoped for, but they checked all the boxes this year, going 4-3-3 against teams from the historically strong Eastern Panhandle and finishing over .500 for the first time since 2007.
"We always set goals to do one better than the season before," Robby Hott said. "Last year we wanted to win a certain number of games and beat a Panhandle school. This year we wanted to beat that number last year and win another game in the Panhandle. And we did just that and then some.
"To be able to host a sectional championship is amazing for this group of kids."
Hampshire loses six seniors from its starting line-up, namely its top goalscorer in Strawn and keeper Mason Hott, but the Trojans return five starters.
The goal for next year? Win the whole thing.
"I think we have a strong complement to be able to do it again next year," Robby Hott said.
Alex Rychwalski is a sports reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @arychwal.
