Horizon boys third in eight-player district playoffs

The Hawks (5-2-3) earned third place in the 3A/2A/1A Special District 7 eight-player playoffs. Horizon was dropped into the third-place consolation match after losing Tuesday 6-1 at regular-season and eventual district champion Damascus Christian.

“It was quite an interesting match,” Horizon Coach Andrew Stenberg said of the Southwest contest. “We played on a full-size turf field (football sized), which we hadn’t been practicing on or prepared for.”

Most schools playing eight-player soccer this fall have reduced the size of their playing fields. Southwest Christian (5-3-2) opted to play on a regulation-sized field.

“This threw quite a wrench in our gameplay and strategy … (Southwest Christian was) used to playing with the extra space and were very prepared for the match,” Stenberg explained.

The host team took advantage with an early goal which held up until two minutes remained in regulation. That’s when sophomore Henry Choi scored from the left side of the 18-yard box. The ball hit the crossbar and dropped straight down onto the goal line.

“We couldn’t tell whether or not it had actually gone in, but thankfully Josiah Sohal was quick to react and sprinted toward the ball and literally threw his body at it pushing it into the back of the net with his chest, ensuring the goal was scored,” Stenberg said.

Neither team scored in the two, 10-minute overtime periods, which led to the penalty kick shootout. In the shootout, each team tries to score on penalty kicks (one-on-one), with the winner the team that scores the most goals out of five chances.

“This is something that the two years prior we had lost our playoffs in, so we made sure to practice for it multiple times this season,” Stenberg said.

Horizon senior goalie Josh Rogers stopped the first two Southwest attempts, while junior Arthur Li and Choi converted, giving the Hawks a 2-0 lead. Li’s shot was deflected by the keeper, bounced off the left post and rolled into the goal. Choi went low with his goal.

“Their third kicker got up and simply went back to the right side of the goal,” Stenberg said. “He didn’t kick it with much power and Josh was easily able to stop it. This meant if we scored our next goal then we would win.”

Junior Caleb Yuan did just that, directing his shot toward the left post at the right angle to bounce it into the back of the net.

“It was quite an intense game, and it was great for the kids to get a win in PK’s as we have tended to struggle a little bit when it comes down to the last few kicks of the game,” Stenberg said. “It was especially impressive as the players were much more exhausted than normal since they played on a much larger field and also 100 minutes with the overtime. What a great way to end the season.”