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On the soggy terrain of its home field Tuesday afternoon, the Crossland High School boys' soccer team gained a first-half lead on visiting Chopticon High. But Crossland could not withstand the Braves' persistent attack, and eventually fell, 2-1, in the 3A South Region quarterfinals.

Crossland coach Joseph Willoughby put his players through a rigorous workout schedule starting in August, and he watched the Cavaliers benefit from their endurance during the regular season. But Tuesday afternoon, with the sun setting behind the tree line on the outskirts of the school, Crossland's hard work was neutralized by Chopticon's depth.

"It seemed like every time I looked up they were bringing in three or four new guys," said Willoughby, whose team finished the season at 7-2-1. "We lost one of our guys [Sergio Gonzalez] to an injury in the first 5 minutes, and that hurt. We only had two guys on the bench, and one of them had missed practice all week with migraines and did not want to play."

Willoughby said each practice lasted three hours, and the first 90 minutes included push-ups, crunches, sprinting and a 5-mile run before the players ever touched the soccer ball. Now he is hoping most of his players will join the swim team, which he will coach this winter, or run with the indoor track team so they maintain their physical condition.

Through the first 25 minutes of play on Tuesday Chopticon passed the ball superbly and spent most of the time in the Cavaliers' zone. But Crossland had the game's first genuine scoring chance. Sergio Irigollen chased down a free ball deep in the Braves' end and was tackled by Chopticon defender Thomas Gailey and awarded a penalty kick. Irigollen's low shot looked on target, but Chopticon goalie Kyle Flanagan dove sharply to his left to make the save.

With less than 10 minutes remaining in the first half, midfielder Zakaria Mahboube sent a deep through pass to Holy Mbah. The freshman forward got behind the Braves' defense and drilled a low shot past Flanagan for a 1-0 lead. Chopticon spent the last 8 minutes of the first half in the Crossland end, but Cavaliers' goalie Carlos Flores made three diving saves to preserve the lead.

Early in the second half, Chopticon sophomore forward Billy Summers was tackled hard in the box and awarded a penalty kick. From the same spot where Irigollen had been denied by Flanagan, Summers sent a low shot into the left corner of the net past a diving Flores to tie the score at 1-1. At that moment, all of the momentum shifted, and the Braves would soon capitalize on their depth and passing.

Flores made numerous saves in the second half, but after Crossland failed to fully clear a Braves' free kick, Chopticon senior Alec Pence took a low shot that caromed off the arm of a Crossland player and past Flores for a 2-1 lead with 19 minutes remaining.

"Our passing was really good," said Chopticon coach Butch Sullivan, whose team improved to 7-8-1. "We had some good scoring chances in both halves. [Crossland] is much better than they were the last time we played them two years ago. We had not seen them since then, but they have solid players."

E-mail Ted Black at tblack@gazette.net.