There were too many storylines to count.
The state’s all-time leading points scorer missing a penalty kick in sudden death before atoning during the shootout. A senior captain who scored the squad’s only two goals and was ejected during overtime. A goalkeeper who saw a dream materialize in front of him and rose to the occasion.
But in the end, it all added up to Western Albemarle first boys soccer Group 3A state championship in nearly a generation, a 2-2 (7-6 PKs) victory over perennial powerhouse Blacksburg at Liberty University.
“I’ll remember this forever,” said Western senior Forrest White. “It’s just very special to end my career like this.”
It’s easy to start with White, who became the state’s all-time leading points scorer this season during an explosive senior campaign. He created a golden opportunity in sudden death overtime against the Bruins, drawing a foul in the box to set up a penalty kick. But he sailed it high above the crossbar as the moment got to him for a split second.
“It was tough, I thought that I could end the game,” White said. “It was a lot of pressure and I shouldn’t really let it get to me but I guess it kind of did.”
No matter. That goalkeeper was about to give him a second chance.
Al Luna, in his first year as the Warriors’ starting keeper, had surrendered a pair of goals to Blacksburg in regulation. But the shootout gave him a new chance, a shot at making the kind of stops goalies usually only dream about.
“I’ve had countless dreams about this,” Luna said. “That’s one of a goalie’s dreams is to be in there, to be there for your team and end the game with your save. I thought that mentally I was completely ready.”
Luna couldn’t come up with one of those stops in the first six kicks as both squads traded made goal after made goal. But when Blacksburg’s seventh shooter stepped up, Luna made the exact stop he needed, rejecting the shot. Jaime Ingersoll skied the potential gamewinner just seconds later, but Luna was undeterred. He got locked in again and made a second straight stop.
“I knew some time I needed to be ready for that and it was just an amazing feeling,” Luna said.
That set the stage for White’s redemption. White strode to the ball and buried it in the bottom right hand corner under the outstretched body of Blacksburg keeper Will Linkeholder.
“You’ve just got to bounce back, he definitely deserved that,” said Western captain Chris Ferguson. “I’m glad that worked out for him and the rest of the team.”
Ferguson helped spearhead a defense that played a huge role, holding the Bruins scoreless in the first half and tightening up on some key chances during overtime.
“They can stop anything,” Luna said.
Neither Luna nor White would have gotten their chance if not for the regulation heroics of senior captain Michael Nafziger. Nafziger, who scored the game’s first goal with 33 minutes left on a blast from outside the box, repeated that feat in stoppage time with the Warriors trailing 2-1. Just minutes after drawing a second yellow card that resulted in a red and pushed him to the sideline, he re-entered the game and struck the ball from the left side, just outside the box in what seemed like a desperation attempt. But the ball found a home in the back of the right side of the net, effectively sending the game to overtime as the regulation whistle blew shortly thereafter.
“Mike had to come out and I understood he was upset but we told him he had to fight through this and channel it into something positive,” said Western coach Paul Rittenhouse. “He walked on the field and buried it to breathe some life into the game. That sort of epitomized what we knew we had in us.”
Nafziger picked up a second red in overtime on what appeared to be a delay of game call, and was tethered to the sideline from there on out, but it mattered little after the Warriors completed the victory in the shootout.
“There were just so many turns in that…it’s just nuts,” Nafziger said. “(Blacksburg) is good and they fight. I think (his emotions running over were) just really what we were playing for out here. ”
The victory ended three previous years of frustration for players like White and Nafziger who’ve been a part of Western squads sitting right on the cusp of something incredible. This year, the Warriors got there for the first time since 1996.
“I’ll never forget this group of guys,” Rittenhouse said. “We’ve had some tough knocks in previous years and we’ve had some heartbreakers and by all accounts there was no reason to keep going there at the end (before Nafziger’s goal). We beat a tremendous opponent… I don’t know what else to say.”
At 24-0 and with a state title to cap it, it’s been said.
