Lucas Lombardozzi (23) and the South County boys’ soccer team defeated West Potomac 1-0 on May 20 in the Conference 7 semifinals. Photo by Louise Krafft.
South County boys’ soccer coach Erich Gunderman stood on the visitors’ sideline at West Potomac High School on Tuesday night and put into perspective the Stallions’ unlikely postseason journey.
“We lost to Hayfield 6-1,” Gunderman said, “and now we’re here.”
When the Stallions suffered that lopsided loss to the Hawks on April 21, their record dipped to 1-6-1. South County concluded the regular season with a 2-9-2 record, including 1-4-1 against conference opponents, and entered the Conference 7 tournament as the No. 7 seed.
Thanks to some resiliency, however, the Stallions went from last place to “here,” which is on their way to the conference championship game.
Junior forward Eusebius Dorr scored a first-half goal and No. 7 South County hung on to defeat No. 3 West Potomac 1-0 on May 20 in the conference semifinals. The Stallions will travel to face No. 1 T.C. Williams at 5 p.m. on Thursday, May 22 for the conference title.
“Absolutely, the kids have come together [and are] starting to do the things that we knew they were capable of and they’re working hard,” Gunderman said. “It’s a great bunch of kids that enjoy being around each other. They’re fun to coach [and] they’re very resilient.”
South County kept its season alive by upsetting No. 2 West Springfield 2-1 in overtime in the quarterfinals on May 16. Junior defender Connor Cavoto scored on a penalty kick in overtime to lift the Stallions over the Spartans and secure a regional berth for South County.
“They’re a good team. Take nothing away from West Springfield,” Gunderman said. “They had some players that were out. Hey, it’s an opportunity and we took advantage of it.”
The Stallions (4-9-2) weren’t done, however, as they found a way to beat West Potomac and continue on to the conference final, where they will face T.C. Williams. The Titans advanced to the championship game with a 1-1 (4-3) penalty-kick shootout victory against No. 5 Annandale in the other semifinal match on Tuesday. T.C. Williams (12-2) defeated South County 2-0 during the teams’ regular-season meeting on April 4.
“It’s going to be fun,” Gunderman said. “Playing over at their place in the hot sun, it will be a challenge for us. TC, hey, they’re the No. 1 seed for a reason. They have a lot of talented athletes over there, [they are] well coached by Marty [Nickley] and we have our work cut out.
“We’re the underdogs coming in, but maybe it’ll be our time.”