It wasn’t your typical big play, it wasn’t a key goal or a timely faceoff or a point-blank save.
It was a big hit in a moment where a lot of players would’ve been nervous about taking the chance, nervous enough to hang back and stay in front of the offensive player. To try and prevent a goal rather than try and end the game.
Juwan Woodson wasn’t nervous. He chose to end the game.
“I was expecting him to come around that screen, I’d been waiting all game to get a piece of somebody,” Woodson said. “I knew that was my chance so I took it.”
On a play that started with under four seconds left on the game clock, Woodson stepped through that screen and leveled the player coming around it who just caught an entry pass. The ball fell harmlessly to the ground, ending Paul VI’s hopes of an equalizer. In turn, STAB sewed up a spot in the VISAA Division I state final with a 15-14 semifinal victory over the Panthers.
“We weren’t going to go down without a fight and we wanted to make aggressive plays up until the final whistle,” said STAB coach Bo Perriello. “Juwan obviously made a really great play there at the end when we really needed it.”
The Saints advance to the VISAA DI final where they’ll face St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes who beat Norfolk Academy earlier Friday.
Woodson’s hit came as STAB helped Paul VI get back into the game with a series of penalties down the stretch, allowing the Panthers to nearly erase a 14-9 STAB lead. With 23.1 seconds to play, the Panthers scored to pull within a goal. Then on three different restarts in the final 23 seconds, the Saints’ defense came up big three different times, finishing with Woodson’s bodycheck.
That defensive stand came on the heels of an explosive first three quarters from the STAB offense that led to an 8-3 halftime lead and that five-goal advantage midway through the fourth quarter.
Joe Robertson led that explosion with six goals and an assist, including the squad’s 15th goal that became the game winner with 46.1 seconds to play. He needed just nine shots to get that done too, scoring within the framework of the offense with a typically efficient effort.
“He’s just an incredible player,” Perriello said. “He does an incredible job leading, he leaves it on the field every game, he inspires the players around him to play better. His first half really set the table for other guys to have big second halves because (Paul VI) was so concerned about where he was on the field.”
Javon Johnson, George Marshall and Phillip Robertson each scored twice, with Johnson coming up particularly big for STAB. The quick midfielder has been asked lately to play a lot of different roles on both ends of the field, but his offensive playmaking ability got top billing Friday.
“We knew today was going to be a big day for Javon,” Perriello said. “The way they play defense, it was going to setup really nicely. He’s just so hard to cover in space. We’ve been using him on the wings in the face-off, he’s gotten out some big ground balls for us, he just plays hard all the time.”
For his part, Johnson has been pleased to do whatever it takes for the Saints.
“I’m not complaining, wherever they need me, I’m just happy we’re winning games,” Johnson said. “That’s the true goal.”
Josh Reiss finished with a goal and an assist while Connor Shellenberger had a goal and two assists. Marshall also had an assist. Kareem Johnson finished with four groundballs.
STAB goalie Patrick Blake made 12 saves.
Nic Ancona and Michael McCormick led Paul VI with four goals each with McCormick also dishing out two assists. Jacob Angelus scored once and finished with three assists. Roman Puglise also had a hat trick for the Panthers.
But in the end, the Saints prevailed, thanks in part to Woodson, an unlikely hero on a team stocked with stars, meeting the moment.
“When we know the games on the line we come through,” Woodson said. “We did it last game against Collegiate. We knew that we had to get something done and we did it. Same thing here. When we put our minds to it, when we know we need to do something, we can do whatever we want.”
