Boys Soccer: Broad Run Atop the Dulles District; Undefeated Stone Bridge Hosts Robinson Tonight in No. 1 vs. No. 2 Match-up

Stone Bridge senior captains Mikey Herndon and Abdul Shaban will lead the Bulldogs tonight at home in a 5:30 p.m. match-up between No. 1 ranked Robinson and No. 2 SB

(Apr. 16, 2010) - Later this year neighbors Broad Run High School and Stone Bridge High School can settle their soccer rivalry on the field but for now they both have bragging rights in the first half of the season as AA Broad Run strode to the top of the Dulles District standings with a pair of 1-0 wins over Potomac Falls and Park View and undefeated AAA Stone Bridge set up for a showdown tonight against Robinson. The 5:30 p.m. start to a boys/girls varsity doubleheader pits the No. 2 Bulldogs against the No. 1 Rams in the Washington Post Northern Virginia soccer rankings.

Tonight's doubleheader at Stone Bridge will be televised on a delay basis by Verizon FiOS 1 local sports. It is also Loudoun Soccer tonight with players wearing their Loudoun soccer jerseys getting in free with a paid adult ticket.

Stone Bridge coach Randall May says his team is lacking a “wow factor” this season, but that hasn’t prevented the Bulldogs from raising some eyebrows with a 5-0 start and a No. 2 ranking.

“We don’t have a “wow” factor. We don’t have that ability. We do have some guys that can play well with their feet. We are a work in progress,” said May after his team defeated Madison, 3-0, on Apr. 12 to improve to 2-0 in the AAA Liberty District. “I still don’t have a sense of where the region is.”


The Bulldogs followed up the Madison win with a 5-0 victory at South Lakes on Apr. 14, a make-up game from an Apr. 8 contest that was halted in the 29th minute because of severe weather.

Led by senior co-captains Abdul Shaban and Mikey Herndon, the Bulldogs have out-scored opponents, 18-2, including wins over West Springfield (5-1), district rival Thomas Jefferson (3-1) and Woodson (2-0).

Even though Stone Bridge lost arguably its top three players to graduation in keeper Matt Miscione (now playing at Virginia), defender Chris Kamara and midfielder Zack Miller, the Bulldogs have been clicking this season with a possession-oriented game that has seen eight different player score already, including six seniors.

“We lost some keys guys but this year everybody is stepping up and they are playing hard. There is great chemistry on the team,” said Shaban, who anchors the defense in front of senior keeper Nick Lowrey.

Herndon, a talented striker, has scored three goals this year but the offensive load up front has been shared by senior forward Christian Salinas, also with three goals. Midfielders Edgey Levy and Clay Brothers have helped Stone Bridge control the pace of play and the pair has combined for three goals as well.

“We are strong up the middle,” said May.

Against South Lakes, Junior Tarik El-Hamdani and Herndon each netted two goals with Shaban picking up one goal. Sophomore Michael Morningstar, junior Tommy Dunne and Salinas each picked up an assist. Lowrey went 60 minutes in goal with sophomore Abe Yoslov playing the last 20 minutes to share in the shutout.

Against Madison, Stone Bridge put 10 shots on goal while limiting the Warhawks to just one. Brothers got the scoring going in the 11th minute after a corner kick was cleared just outside of the 18. Junior Ryan Buckley headed the ball back towards the goal where Shaban, sitting just off the left post, flicked the ball across the front of the goal where Brothers slammed it home.

Then in the 30th minute Stone Bridge increased the lead to 2-0 off a glancing header by senior Cooper Sousa on a nice long throw-in by Dunne.

The final Stone Bridge goal, scored in the 52nd minute, was set up by a nice pass down the left flank by Dunne but the goal itself was courtesy of Herndon’s hustle and creativity as he knifed around a defender while gaining control near the end line and then the senior dribbled towards the Warhawk keeper and rifled a shot that kissed the far post and went into the back of the net.

While the Bulldogs, 34-5-2 since the start of the 2008 season under May, have been major players in the region they have yet to take a district title since the school opened in 2000.

“Our goal this year is to win the district title,” said Herndon.

VivaLoudoun's Boys Soccer Round-up

Wednesday, April 14
Loudoun County 2, Loudoun Valley 2 (OT)
The Skinny: After giving up an early goal the Vikes fought back to equalize on a header by Kevin Esoda, assisted by Stephen Palmer. Minutes later Esoda put the Vikes ahead 2-1 with a beautiful finish also assisted by Palmer. The Vikes led most of the match with County tying it up late in the second half. The cross county rivals traded opportunities in the second half with neither able to find the winning goal. Viking Player of the Game for his great work rate and composure on the ball goes to Gabe Barona.

Reported LV coach Danny Clarke: "The Vikings are showing vast improvement since their last meeting with County and look forward to their second Cedar Run District match on Friday against Battlefield, ranked #4 in the Washington Post All Met."

Stone Bridge 5, South Lakes 0
The Skinny: See above

Tuesday, April 13
Briar Woods 2, Freedom 1
The Skinny: BW wins on goals by David Clements, assisted by Alex Maney, and then on a Maney free kick.

Loudoun County 3, Heritage 2
Heritage keeper Adam Kight saves a penalty kick by County but the Raiders prevail

The Skinny: Raiders win non-district match-up with goals by Sergio Herrarte, Calle Brown and Kevin Doyle. A penalty kick awarded to County was successfully stopped by Heritage's Adam Kight in the game, and Heritage's first score was netted by Jake Flanagan on a rebounded shot of Ryan Finnegan's that glanced off the goal post. Heritage's second goal was scored by Ruben Torres as Heritage worked the ball across the net laterally. Torres was assisted on the goal by Jonathan Castillo. Kight, a freshman, had 8 saves on the night, including the spectacular PK stop. Heritage is 3-3-0

Broad Run 1, Park View 0

The Skinny: For the second straight game the Spartans prevail on a long throw in by Paul Ellington. This time in the 53rd minute as the throw wasn't cleared out and a second ball sent in was headed by Kevin Reitzel to Danny Reategui who head it in for the goal. Paul Hegedus came up with some big saves for the shutout.


Potomac Falls 2, Dominion 1
The Skinny: Panthers bounce back from back-to-back defeats to Broad Run and Park View with goals by Justin Namakaya and Kevin King. Another outstanding goalkeeping performance from PF keeper Ryan Howard.

Monday, April 12
Stone Bridge 3, Madison 0
The Skinny: See above

Loudoun County 2, Briar Woods 1
The Skinny: Kevin Doyle scores twice as Raiders win Dulles District match. Mikey Fonseca scored the Falcons goal.

Park View 3, Potomac Falls 2
The Skinny: The difference was a penalty kick given by the Panthers. (We are still looking for scoring from this match, please email to VivaLoudoun)

Friday, April 9
Dominion 1, Briar Woods 1 (OT)
The Skinny: Alex Maney scored the lone goal for BW. (Dominion: please email your scoring).

Park View 1, Loudoun County 0
The Skinny: Patriots win on a goal in the second half (36:00 min.) by Jose Herrera with the assist by Kelvin Landaverdez

Broad Run 1, Potomac Falls 0 (OT)
The Skinny: Taylor Johnson's header off a throw-in by Paul Ellington in overtime was the difference as the Panthers got a great performance in goal by keeper Ryan Howard to keep the Spartans off the scoreboard until the OT.

Osbourn 2, Heritage 1
The Skinny: Heritage traveled to Osbourn High School for their first Cedar Run District game. Osbourn scored first early in the first half, but Heritage came back with 17 minutes left in the second half to tie the game. Taking advantage when an Osbourn player fouled Nick Wright, Jake Flanagan's free kick was headed into the goal by Ryan Finnegan. Osbourn scored a second goal in the last few minutes of the game to record the win.