Big-time players make big-time plays in big-time games. For Sacred Heart soccer that has been a recurring theme in the past 96 hours. It was tonight as Heath Flathau and Heath Hogan scored key goals to send the Crusaders to their third-straight 1A/2A/3A State Championship, defeating Clarkdale 2-1 in overtime.
“Those last two minutes, it was a crazy two minutes. A lot happened. It got both sides fired up. Our message before the game was to be patient, just be patient. I kind of had an idea of what they were going to do. I guess patience prevailed,” said Joe Falla Jr. after the team’s 2-1 overtime win.
Clarkdale utilized a defensive strategy known as, “park the bus” throughout the night, dropping as many as seven, sometimes eight defenders in the back of their side of the pitch to defend against the Crusaders offensive attack.
“Most of the time they had just one guy at the top and we could not get through that. We found a way, though,” said Falla Jr.
Sacred Heart stayed in Clarkdale territory most of the game, but could not find a clear shot on goal for most of the evening. Clarkdale’s chances were also few and far in between with only one attacker set up most of the evening.
The drama picked up late when the Bulldogs lost a player to two yellow cards, forcing them to play down one man. In the 78th minute of action, Sacred Heart was awarded a penalty kick after a foul, and Flathau took advantage, scoring to give Sacred Heart a 1-0 lead late.
However, things turned quickly as in the closing seconds of the 80th minute, Clarkdale was fouled, receiving a penalty kick of their own. Cole Gardner answered the bell on the kick, tying the game to send it to overtime.
In the 17th minute of the 20 minute overtime period, Hogan found a seam to drive the ball into the net to give Sacred Heart the 2-1 lead. The Crusaders held on, taking advantage of Clarkdale’s style of play to get back to the State Championship.
“We are seasoned. We are a seasoned bunch of boys. I’m proud of them, man. Like I told them earlier, we are going back to where it started for them. We always say we have unfinished business, but the way it ended two years ago, I think they are ready to redeem themselves. We are going back, and we have one game left. We always say that if you’re playing on the last day then you’ve done something right. So here we are,” said Falla Jr.
What’s next
Both the Sacred Heart soccer teams will head to Ridgeland this Saturday to play St. Andrews who also advanced both the girls and guys teams. The Lady Crusaders will look to five-peat and take home their seventh title in eight seasons [six championships overall] at noon. The Sacred Heart boys will square off with St. Andrews at 2 p.m. to attempt to go back-to-back in state championship games. The Crusaders have three championships currently.
Notes
The Lady Sacred Heart Crusaders defeated Our Lady Academy Tuesday evening 2-1 in overtime as none other than sophomore Gracie Falla knocked in the goal via header.
Head coach Joe Falla Jr. interview here: click here
