Urbana boys take Piedmont Conference title
Thomas scores game winner for Hawks
The Urbana High boys soccer team captured the Monocacy Valley Athletic League Piedmont Conference championship with a thrilling 1-0 overtime victory over visiting Gov. Thomas Johnson last Friday.
Eight minutes into the first overtime, Hawks' senior forward Kyle Thomas punched in a point-blank shot off of a pass from junior forward Joey Penn for the game winner.
Thomas waited until the final regular season game of the season to score his first goal, which occurred during Urbana's Senior Night.
"The goal was really special, it was my first goal in high school, but I couldn't have done it without Joey, he's one of the best players in the area," said Thomas.
Urbana controlled the possession for much of the first half, but settled for too many long-distance shots that failed to bother TJ sophomore goalkeeper Nick Moxley, who finished the game with six saves.
The rain picked considerably up in the second half, beating down sideways on the already soggy field. The wet conditions didn't seem to have much effect as each team was able to keep their footing.
"I don't think the footing was and issue, but when the surface is wet like this the ball just flies," said Urbana head coach Scott Schartner.
Hawks junior goalkeeper Alex Vert proved tough to beat throughout the match, racking up a game-high 10 saves on route to the shutout.
"He's [Vert] been very, very consistent for us," said Schartner.
"He's aggressive off his line and very consistent with his feet, so we feel comfortable playing back to his feet which gives us the advantage of having 11 field players.
Thomas Johnson had its share of chances during the game, most off of counter-attack play.
Patriots' senior forward Anthony Strafford finished the game with four shots on goal. Urbana outshot TJ by an 18-11 margin.
"We really came out hard tonight, because we knew what this game meant for not only the program, but for the season and the regional finals," said Thomas.