Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011

Van Hall, Huskies break through

Overtime win for Heritage

Tyler Van Hall was speechless after 100 minutes of soccer.

Ten minutes earlier, Van Hall was about 20 yards from the net on a free kick from the left side of the field with the Huskies locked in a 1-1 tie with rival Wake Forest-Rolesville.

Van Hall took advantage, scoring what led to be the game-winning strike with 33 seconds left in the first overtime period to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead.

Heritage (6-10-4 overall, 4-9-1 Cap Eight 4-A) held off the Cougars (7-13-1, 4-9-1) in the second overtime period to win the match to finish the regular season on a high note as the Huskies go into Cap Eight tournament play next week.

"I'm kind of at a loss for words," Van Hall said after the match. "We fought hard the whole game and overtime. I'm proud of them."

Heritage coach Scott Sloan echoed that sentiment.

"When it comes to this team, it's been about heart all year long," Sloan said.

On a chilly night, it would take a while for the Cougars and Huskies to warm up offensively, as Wake Forest-Rolesville and Heritage played to a scoreless standstill after 40 minutes.

Both teams had numerous scoring opportunities, whether from the shots-on-goal in the field of play or by free kicks.

But none touched nylon for the Cougars or Huskies.

Then, Heritage's Kidd Bottomley - getting an assist on the play from Van Hall - scored on a blistering shot from the right side of the field that met the back left of the net, putting the Huskies up 1-0 in the 42nd minute.

Wake Forest-Rolesville made it 1-1 in the 50th minute on Seth Poole's goal from the left side of the net.

Poole was assisted by Fausto Turro.

But neither team was able to find offense for the remaining 30 minutes of the half, sending the match into overtime.

"They had a lot of tenacity and hung with it," Wake Forest-Rolesville coach Jeremiah Mattingly said of Heritage. "One team was going to get the break and they got it."