St. Pius Boys Earns Dramatic Double-Overtime Win Over Marist

The annual clash between Georgia soccer heavyweights, the 3rd-ranked Marist War Eagles (AAAA) and the top-ranked (AAA), certainly lived up to its high billing Wednesday night.

After 80 minutes of scoreless soccer, it took 10 minutes of overtime and three overtime goals to decide a winner.

This year it was St. Pius captain Drew Morgan who was the hero for the home team, scoring two goals in overtime, including the eventual game winner with just three minutes left to claim victory and bragging rights for at least the next 12 months for the Golden Lions.

“It feels great…this is my second year playing against Marist and last year we came out on top too so every year it’s a big game,” said Morgan after the win. “We got a bunch of fans to come out and they helped us through it.”

The match lacked drama for much of regulation as both sides struggled to possess the ball through the midfield and to consistently create scoring chances apart from corner and free kicks.

Perhaps the most threatening scoring chance by either side came with 18 minutes left in the second half, when Marist’s Henry Chancy fired a low, hard shot from about 25 yards out towards the left corner. However, St. Pius X goalkeeper and captain Andrew Wolverton made a diving stop and the game remained knotted at 0-0.

St. Pius X produced a promising chance of their own when sophomore Alex Kowalski shook off a Marist defender inside the box, before firing a low shot right into the arms of Marist goalkeeper Vaughn Moore.

The final minutes of regulation expired uneventfully, but the droves of fans in attendance who stuck around for overtime were rewarded for their patience.

With 1:06 remaining in the first five-minute period of overtime, St. Pius X’s Chris Hightower catapulted a throw-in from the left sideline into the box, where it met the head of Morgan, who nodded the ball off the left post. The ball bounced off the post and into the goalmouth before one of the linesmen signaled that the ball had crossed the goal line, putting the Golden Lions in front 1-0.

Morgan’s goal however, was hardly the nail in the coffin for Marist.

Just over one minute into the second overtime period, Marist’s Erik Jacome collected the ball from a scrum inside the penalty box and fired a shot that ricocheted off a Golden Lion defender and into the back of the net to tie the game at one apiece.

Marist’s celebration was short-lived however and less than 45 seconds later, Hightower and Morgan connected again on a throw-in sent sailing into the Marist penalty box.

After a scramble in front of the goal, the loose ball squirted out onto the foot of Morgan, who calmly slipped the ball past a diving Moore for the 2-1 victory.

“I’m proud of the way we came back under that kind of pressure on their field to come back and tie it 1-1,” said Marist head coach Brendan Murphy. “It was unlucky at the end. We kind of gave up a pretty soft goal at the end but their kid has got a wicked throw-in so what can you say.”

After the game, St. Pius X head coach David O’Shea, a relative newcomer to the Pius-Marist rivalry, weighed in on what Tuesday night’s victory meant to his team, as the region 5-AAA champion Golden Lions prepare to start their playoff run next week.

“I haven’t really been around the school for that long but I certainly know the history and tradition that go with this game, not only in this sport but it means so much to the players, particularly the seniors, and to the fans as well,” said O’Shea.

The girls contest between the two squads that was also played Wednesday night was much less dramatic, as the St. Pius X girls cruised to a decisive 6-0 win over Marist.