Make no mistake about it. Alec De Jong’s injury earlier this year was a gruesome one.
An elbow to the teeth fractured the Covenant standout’s jaw and knocked out a trio of teeth, jamming them back up and into his mouth.
“The ball went over my head and I turned around and I caught an elbow so I have to wear a mouthguard on the bottom which is really annoying,” De Jong said. “I fractured my jaw (too) and I just got my braces off two days ago…I had to do that for a month until it healed.”
The injury put him on the shelf for a month. He only got back in the lineup late in the season and finding his usual form that made him one of the most potent scorers for last year’s team has predictably been a little bit of a struggle. But Monday afternoon, he stepped up and scored a goal with just under five minutes to play that sealed a 2-0 victory over Steward for the No. 2-seeded Eagles in the VISAA Division II Quarterfinals and put the Eagles, the defending state champions, back in the state final four.
“It felt pretty good, I’m not going to lie,” De Jong said. “I’ve been waiting for that all season. It felt good to score one where it mattered. ”
It wasn’t his first goal since his return, but it was clearly his most important. Along with Clark Gathright’s early first half goal, the late tally put the game away, and was a huge lift for a senior just looking for ways to contribute.
“He’s been working hard all season to come back from the early injury and today he showed us the fight that he had at the beginning of last year,” said Covenant coach Bryan Verbrugge.
Steward was a 10-seed in the tournament who upset Portsmouth Christian 1-0 in the first round to get to the clash with the Eagles. Avoiding the upset bid in the quarterfinal was no easy task as Steward took the fight to Covenant, particularly early in the second half.
“I think part of what makes this really tough is just the unpredictability of the game of soccer,” Verbrugge said. “I would’ve loved to have a timeout and get my guys fired up in the second half.”
Jonathan Whyte posted another shutout for the Eagles in goal, Covenant’s ninth of the year.
The early goal allowed Covenant focus on defense a little and make some slight tactical adjustments to what Steward was doing.
“We recognized that they were beating us down the middle so we pulled one of our strikers (Brandon De Jong) back,” Verbugge said. “We allowed him to attack from the midfield but that enabled to pick up some of the possession they were getting through the midfield..”
The adjustments paid off as the Eagles survived and advanced, giving Alec De Jong and the rest of the Covenant squad another shot at the state title in Richmond.
“That’s our goal and I think we’re all set and we’re playing our best soccer here at the end of the year which is what we want,” De Jong said.
Covenant will take on No. 3-seeded Highland in the semifinal in Richmond Thursday.
