Cougars Fall to Herndon in OT on Senior Night

The Oakton Cougars boys varsity soccer team (8-3-1) played host to the undefeated Hornets on Tuesday, when the Cougars also celebrated Senior Night. The match would determine the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Concorde district tournament. And the Cougars wanted to spoil Herndon’s perfect season and would do everything in their power to accomplish that task. 

After leading 1-0 the Cougars would eventually find themselves in overtime after a Herndon comeback. Unfortunately, Hornet Carlos Mendoza sent a rainbow cross to Dominic Gallelli, who drilled a hard header in the right-side, upper 90 with less than three minutes to play to give his Hornets the No. 1 seed with the win, 2-1.

Oakton dominated the first half of play and took a 1-0 lead into halftime to put the Hornets in an unusual position. With 6:15 left in the opening half, Herndon keeper, Jack Clarke saved a Bubba Delgado shot but the ball rolled out of his arms. Oakton sophomore, Christian Ollen capitalized by putting a foot on the ball from 6 yards out to score and take the lead.

“I think we did a great job moving the ball around and did a good job stepping to the open man,” Ollen said. “I played Bubba in the middle, I hit a volley and it rolled on the ground. I got a lucky bounce off the keeper’s gloves and I rolled it in.”

Delgado would fire off several shots on Clarke throughout the first half, forcing Herndon to focus on its defensive play. Ben Webster contained the Hornets at midfield to keep Oakton’s momentum in full swing for the first 45 minutes and the Cougars headed into the second half with confidence.

However, Herndon changed its tactics and instead of playing the ball short and working their way up field as they tried in the first half, the Hornet defense and middies lobbed the ball deep to strikers EK Korvah and Patrick McLaughlin.

The change in strategy paid off when McLaughlin got the ball after a free kick and headed it into the back of the net from 8 yards out to tie the game at one, with 34:41 remaining in regulation.

Oakton forwards Delgado and Charlie Ahn hustled to create one-on-one situations with Clarke, but the Herndon was stalwart. Cougar relief keeper, Logan Cropper, who subbed in for Mike Chanhiran, also made several tremendous saves to keep the game knotted up through the second half.

Time ran out with the score, 1-1 and the teams readied themselves for the fan-favorite, 10-minute overtime period. Both squads battled it out for the first five minutes until they switched sides and Herndon got aggressive. Two minutes later, Herndon’s Dominic Gallelli knocked a header into the right side, upper 90 to spoil the Cougar’s Senior Night, 2-1.

Despite Delgado’s great play, he said he was disappointed they let one slip by them.

“It could have been better. We should have won,” Delgado said. “We had them the whole game and gave up one stupid opportunity.”

Cougar coach Todd Spitalny said he believes his team has been underrated all season.

“Unfortunately we haven’t gotten the respect we deserve. We‘ve actually played a better schedule than they have,” Spitalny said. “The only game we lost other than Yorktown legitimately, was this one. You can’t take anything away from them, they’re a solid team.”

The coach added he feels confident in his team’s ability to play against any team and hopes to get a second shot at the Hornets.

“We unfortunately get the unlucky draw of Centreville. But if we get through them, we get to see [Herndon] again and we’re excited about that. We want to see them again. We can play with anybody and we know it.”

Oakton plays next in the Concorde District tournament, which begins 7 p.m. May 16.