Boys Soccer: Hornets Shutout Yorktown, Advance to Regional Quarterfinal

After suffering its first loss of the season in the Concorde District final last week to Oakton, The Herndon Hornet boys’ varsity soccer team hosted Yorktown Wednesday night in hopes of making a run at the Northern Regional Banner.

Herndon (14-1-1) returned to dominant form in round one, needing only one goal to knock out the Patriots as Salah Warid scored from 15 yards out with 28:49 still left in the first half to advance to the second round with the win, 1-0.

“Brian [Parodi] played me a great ball and I saw EK had a hold on the defender,” Warid said. “I got it to him and he played a perfect ball right back to me. I picked out a corner and I made the shot.”

For the past month, Herndon started slow and became a second-half team, playing from behind and forcing miraculous shots. However, Hornet strikers Korvah, Warid and McLaughlin attacked the Patriots from the opening kick and played at 100 percent the entire 90 minutes Wednesday. McLaughlin stormed the Patriot keeper often with nine powerful shots.

“We started off strong, which is different from the last three games, and we put it on [strong] in the first 20 minutes,” McLaughlin said. “We got in that winning rhythm finally and it seems like it has been forever. But we got back in the swing of things and hopefully regionals will go well.”

Defensively, Raleigh McKenzie led with a big clear and an amazing save inside the post early in the first against the Yorktown offense, who looked to strike quick within the first five minutes. He and Brian Parodi moved the ball up the sideline, crossing the ball precisely to Warid and McLaughlin who stayed on the attack.

“We knew [Yorktown] would come out strong. They tried to bang balls all game and I was laying back, chasing them to make sure they didn’t get any through balls in,” McKenzie said. “After we lost to Oakton, that made us mad, but we knew we would still have a chance to win regionals.”

Yet, Yorktown showed speed and determination during the first 20-30 minutes of play. But Herndon All-District Keeper Jack Clarke saved 10 Patriot shots and looked as good as he has all season. Clarke stymied the competition, causing Yorktown to lose poise and become frustrated as one of its players was given a yellow card at midfield.

“After the last game, getting scored on isn’t the best feeling and I wanted to play a solid game,” Clarke said. “We came back knowing we had to step it up and we played as a team.”

Though Warid scored early with just under 29 minutes left in the first half, Herndon never let up and instead stayed aggressive throughout the entire match. McLaughlin increased the pressure in the second half with a barrage of shots within the 18-yard-box. The captain led his team with nine of Herndon’s 15 shots.

“We were pushing it and we weren’t going to sit back and just defend,” Herndon Coach Sean Lanigan said. “Yorktown is a great team—they’re fast, big and if we would have sat back and got into an air ball match with them, they may have gotten a goal on us. The best defense is a great attack.”

The Hornets would outplay, outperform and outlast Yorktown to knock them out of the tourney and move on to the quarterfinal against the winner of the South Lakes vs. West Springfield match.

Korvah, who had battled a couple injuries this season, said he feels much better and last week’s loss actually helped the team in some ways.

“I feel like we learned a big lesson from districts on how to not underestimate any team,” he said. “And so we came out with fire today and show people we can win since we lost districts.”

Herndon plays in the Regional quarterfinal on May 27 – Time and opponent TBA.