By Phil Murphy
Senior Multimedia/Content Editor
Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area
*Check below for an interactive box score from both games!*
Oakton vs. No. 8 Chantilly
PHOTO VIDEO
Westfield vs. Robinson
PHOTO VIDEO
Long-term memory was not a prerequisite for the Concorde District semifinals at Fairfax.
Both showery match-ups — top-seeded Chantilly against fifth-seeded Oakton, and second-seeded Robinson versus third-seeded Westfield — were rematches of recent regular-season district finales.
For the No. 8 Chargers, they experienced deja vu success from their April 21 match with the Cougars, winning, 7-3, in the early game on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs, however, lost to the Rams by four goals on April 27 and were more of a long shot to advance.
Appropriately, they turned to the long shots of junior middie Eric Alter, who scored three goals — two from over 20 yards away — as Westfield snapped a longtime losing streak to Robinson, 7-5, to advance the district championship.
“I was seeing the ball well tonight and I was seeing the goal well,” said Alter, whose last goal, scored at 6 minutes, 56 seconds in the fourth quarter proved the game-winner. “We had a bunch of man-up goals, so that was a good way to spread out the ball and get some open shots.
“We all really wanted this win, a win against Robinson. None of these players have ever beaten Robinson at the varsity level. We lost to them four times two years ago. This is a great win, great redemption.”
Chantilly, meanwhile, wasted little time suppressing any thoughts of an upset.
Less than three minutes into the game, Charger junior middie Maris Gallegos electrified the sparse crowd with a thunderous hit in the Cougar half of the field. Shortly thereafter, Oakton was penalized with a nonreleasable personal foul, which forced them to play man-down for a full minute, regardless of whether or not Chantilly scored.
Within 85 seconds of Gallegos’ check, three Chargers recorded goals — senior Robbie Bowers, junior Brendan Waters and Gallegos — to give Chantilly instant insurance.
Despite 12 saves by senior goalkeeper Joey McCallum and hat trick by junior attack Jason Chancler, Oakton never trimmed the margin to less than three.
“That penalty helped us big,” said Waters, who scored twice and added an assist. “It had us come out from a 0-0 game to, I think, 3-0. That just gave us a lot of momentum.”
Added Gallegos, on the hit that started the early run: “I was just playing LAX. I was just trying to get us pumped up for the game, because we knew we had to get a win out of this in order to move on.
“It was just heart, man.”
And “heart” was the differentiating factor, according to Westfield coach Brian Dilley, between its 8-4 loss to Robinson last Monday and its 7-5 semifinal win.
But if the Bulldogs want another Concorde victory and more redemption — plus a banner alongside those — they must reverse another historic trend, this time on Friday against the defending state champion Chargers.
Chantilly has won 30 of its last 31 games overall and has found itself victorious four-straight times against Westfield, dating back to March 26, 2007, including a come-from-behind, 7-5 win this season on April 16.
“Coming onto a Monday game is always a tough game,” Dilley said of his team’s first loss to Robinson. “We had an outstanding pre-game practice yesterday … It’s a testament to my captains and my team that it’s the playoffs. I’ve been emphasizing that the whole time since we got into Districts that it’s now one-and-done for us. That’s how they have to look at every game.
“We have to fine-tune everything. Chantilly is a different beast than Robinson is, obviously, so we’re going to have to game plan differently. Without giving away any secrets, they’re good, if not better — I’d almost say better.
“I can’t coach motivation. I can’t coach heart. But when they bring it, that’s when they’re good.”
Email: pmurphy@digitalsports.com
Oakton (5-6) 0 1 0 2 — 3
No. 8 Chantilly (10-1) 3 1 2 1 — 7
Goals:
OK – Jason Chancler (3).
CH – Maris Gallegos (2), Brendan Waters (2), Robbie Bowers, Kevin Egan, Joe Marson.
Assists:
OK – Nicholas Ward.
CH – Maris Gallegos (2), Steve Gombos, Max Jeffery, Brendan Waters, Devin Westerman.
Goals (Time Left in Half) — Score
1st Quarter
CH – Robbie Bowers (9:17) — 1-0
CH – Brendan Waters (8:40) — 2-0
CH – Maris Gallegos (8:18) — 3-0
2nd Quarter
CH – Brendan Waters (5:25) — 4-0
OK – Jason Chancler (4:40) — 4-1
3rd Quarter
CH – Joe Marson (9:48) — 5-1
CH – Maris Gallegos (6:26) — 6-1
4th Quarter
OK – Jason Chancler (10:04) — 6-2
CH – Kevin Egan (8:52) — 7-2
OK – Jason Chancler (6:51) — 7-3
Westfield (7-6) 2 1 1 3 — 7
Robinson (6-6) 2 0 2 1 — 5
Goals:
WF – Eric Alter (3), Michael Morton (3), Gage Hagen.
RB – Dan McNulty (3), Michael O’Meara, Thomas Petrocci.
Assists:
WF – Woody Angle (2), Jacob Donovan, Scott McAlister.
RB – Dan McNulty, Thurmond Shaw.
Goals (Time Left in Half) — Score
1st Quarter
WF – Eric Alter (8:29) — 0-1
RB – Dan McNulty (3:41) — 1-1
RB – Thomas Petrocci (2:29) — 2-1
WF – Michael Morton (2:09) — 2-2
2nd Quarter
WF – Eric Alter (0:19) — 2-3
3rd Quarter
RB – Dan McNulty (7:15) — 3-3
WF – Michael Morton (7:04) — 3-4
RB – Michael O’Meara (1:54) — 4-4
4th Quarter
WF – Michael Morton (8:56) — 4-5
RB – Dan McNulty (8:49) — 5-5
WF – Eric Alter (6:53) — 5-6
WF – Gage Hagen (6:25) — 5-7
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