Boys Soccer: Broad Run Enjoys Its Senior Moment as Veteran Leadership Keeps Spartans Perfect with 3-1 Win Over Rival Park View

Broad Run SR Will Gooch scores with 20 seconds left in first half Friday in Spartans 3-1 win over Park View


By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor

Ashburn (Apr. 3, 2011) – Broad Run High School boys soccer coach Jon Hicks challenged his seniors prior to Friday night’s Dulles District showdown with rival Park View and the Spartans veteran leadership responded with goals by seniors Will Gooch, Ryan Deutsch and Kevin Reitzel in a 3-1 victory on a chilly evening.

Reitzel added an assist and senior Tim Chapman had two assists as Broad Run (5-0-0 overall and in district) beat Park View (5-1-0) in the match-up of unbeatens.

“I ask our seniors before the game to take ownership and all our assists were from seniors and all our goals were from seniors. They refused to let us lose tonight,” said Hicks.

For Broad Run, which has allowed just two goals this season while scoring 18, it continued an unbeaten streak in district that dates back to April 2009 as the Spartans ran the table last year with a perfect 12-0-0 district regular season while advancing to the state semifinals for the second straight season and posting an overall 19-3-1 mark.

Ryan Deutsch scores in 51st minute to make it 2-0 Broad Run


Park View, which had been a state tournament team in 2009 but slipped to 6-4-2 in district last season, is looking for a return to the playoffs behind high-scoring senior Jose Miguel Herrera, who was named both the Dulles District and Region II Player of the Year in 2010.

Herrera already had six goals and four assists in his first five games this season as the Patriots were averaging three goals a contest prior to Friday, but the Spartans experienced line-up – Broad Run has 12 seniors on the roster – kept Herrera in check for most of the night though he did score the Patriots lone goal off an assist from sophomore Geo Hernandez.

“He’s a marked man,” said Park View coach Arturo Jimenez.


While Park View also has 12 seniors on its roster, the Patriots have a younger starting 11 than the Spartans, including a freshman keeper in the athletic Sam Onyeador.

It was Park View that came out with the most energy Friday and the Patriots controlled the pace of the play for most of the first half as the Spartans looked out of synch early.

“They came out and really dictated the game early on. I think we were kind of startled,” said Reitzel, who was a first team Dulles District midfielder last season.

While it appeared the two teams would head to the break scoreless, Broad Run shocked Park View with a goal in the final 20 seconds of the first half on a build-up that started on a free kick from just beyond the midfield line and saw the ball played down the right side, cleared out briefly and then played back in.

Gooch, who provides a boost off the bench for the Spartans up front, was able to flick the ball over his left shoulder with his back to the goal from about 30 yards out. Reitzel corralled the ball and tried to draw a foul at the edge of the 18 but lost control of the ball. Chapman recovered it and slotted the ball over to Gooch, who came in and one-timed the ball into the far left corner of the net from 15 yards out.

“I’m just an energizer for the team. I try to give the team a spark,” said Gooch who also had a goal in the Spartans 3-1 win earlier in the week against Potomac Falls.

Broad Run doubled its advantage in the 51st minute as Reitzel took a free kick from just outside the 18 and directly in front of the Park View net. Reitzel’s low dribbler, squired through the Patriots wall, and then was bobbled by Onyeador. Before the keeper could collect the ball, Deutsch darted in and was able to knock it into the goal.

Park View cut into the 2-0 lead when the dangerous Herrera was sprung loose in the 18 1-ond-1 and he beat Spartan senior keeper Paul Hegedus – who a week earlier won his appeal with the VHSL to maintain his eligibility for this final season after an academic scheduling snafu.

With 21:53 still left in the contest, it appeared that the Patriots were right back in the mix but while their fans were still cheering the goal, Broad Run’s Chapman took the ball deep into the left corner and played a dangerous ball back across the 18 where Reitzel ran onto it and finished nicely. That goal came just 53 seconds after Herrera’s score.

“Chapman did a good job of beating the outside back and I left-footed it into the goal,” said Reitzel.

Broad Run’s defense is again experienced and very tall in the back – even with the graduation of Paul Ellington and second team all-district Taylor Johnson’s decision to concentrate on basketball his senior year and not come out for soccer. Led by senior Tom Foster, the Spartans dug in for the final minutes and prevented Park View from scoring again.

The Patriots, however, came close as they had a goal ruled offsides in the final 10 minutes and then in the final two minutes, Hegedus was called upon twice to make spectacular saves to keep the score at 3-1.

“You have to respect their keeper,” said Jimenez, who felt his team had better offensive looks in the second half after adjusting its formation from a 4-5-1 with Herrera as the lone striker to a 4-4-2.

Hicks was pleased with the Spartans performance, save for the opening stanza: “We played it tentatively at first … maybe we had them too pumped up.”