The Peachtree Patriots made it a sweep of the DCSD Middle School soccer titles with a thrilling 4-3 win over the Henderson Cougars. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The Peachtree Patriots made it a school sweep of the DeKalb County Middle School Soccer Championships with a big goal by Wagner Roblero in the final 1:27 of a thrilling 4-3 win over the Henderson Cougars in the nightcap at Hallford Stadium on Thursday night.
The match featured four goals in the final 7:59 of play as the two teams who battled to a 2-1 Peachtree win during their Region 2 deciding match back in late April.
The Patriots were holding to a 2-1 lead they had at halftime when Henderson got a penalty in the box to set up a penalty kick with 7:59 to play. Peachtree’s Miguel Hernandez connected on the PK to give the Patriots what looked like a safe 3-1 lead.
Henderson was not done yet when the Cougars drew a penalty in the box to set up a penalty kick of their own just 36 seconds later. Luis Bibiano found the left corner ono the PK to trim the lead to 3-2.
Henderson Cougar keeper Ryan Guzman goes down for a save against Peachtree. (Photo by Mark Brock)
As the clock ticked below three minutes Bibiano struck again for the Cougars scoring at the 2:47 mark to knot the game at 3-3 on shot just under the crossbar and what looked like a win for Peachtree seemed headed to overtime.
Then with 1:27 to play Peachtree had the ball in front of the Henderson goal and shot in the crowd was deflected into the net by Roblero to make it 4-3 in favor of the Patriots who went on to run out the final 1:27 for the win.
Henderson broke a 0-0 first half tie with 7:40 left in the opening period as Bredy Osorto took advantage of a crowded play in front of the Peachtree goal to knock home a shot for the 1-0 advantage.
Peachtree tied the game at 1-1 with 3:54 remaining in the half as Giuliano Rodrigues drove a shot home from 27 yards out front.
Peachtree’s team captain Jonathan Garcia was named the MVP for his play, including a goal, against Henderson. (Photo by Mark Brock)
The Patriots then took the lead at 2-1 going into the half when Jonathan Garcia hit a blast matching his teammate’s 27-yard goal with one of his own with 46.2 seconds left.
Peachtree keeper Nicholas Boggs had five saves and just missed another on a high shot under the bar. Ryan Guzman had four saves before having to leave after a point-blank shot to his face and was replace by Parker Haynes who put up four saves of his own.
Peachtree finished 8-0 as the champions rebounding from a tough 4-2 loss to Tucker in the title game a year ago. The Patriots reached this year’s title match rallying from an 0-2 deficit in the final 10 minutes against Tucker for a 3-2 overtime win in the semifinals.
Henderson closed out the season with a 6-3 mark.
See link below for final DCSD MS Soccer standings: