Hirsch restores Lions' roar with goal in OT

September 04, 2009|By JACK HILL III/Staff Correspondent

Senior Gabe Hirsch scored an unassisted goal five minutes into overtime on Thursday to lift Broadfording Christian Academy to a 4-3 victory over St. Maria Goretti.

"It was tough," Hirsch said. "We just kept pushing. We got a lot of corner kicks and long throw-ins into the box. A throw-in bounced off of one of their players. I got a lucky bounce in front of the goal and I put it in."

It was just what Broadfording coach David Grimm wanted to see.

"It is exciting to see Gabe as a senior push as hard as he does," Grimm said. "He has a desire to win in every game. Goretti fought hard and the game could have went either way."

It took Hirsch's second goal of the game to make sure Broadfording (4-0) remained undefeated.

Goretti (1-1) tied the score at 3-3 in the closing seconds of regulation when Mateo Pejla scored on an assist by Vince Turano to send the game into overtime.

"There was a short spell in the game, mainly in the second half, where we lost control of the center of the midfield," Goretti coach Mike Long said. "Except for that period of time, we controlled the game before and after that."

The Lions came back from a 2-0 halftime deficit with three unanswered goals to take the lead.

Andrew Torres scored the Lions' first goal in the 50th minute off an assist by Hirsch before tacking on the tying goal in the 60th minute off a pass from older brother Stephen Torres.

Two minutes later, Hirsch scored a goal on an assist by Andrew Wyand to give the Lions the 3-2 lead.

"They surprised us," Hirsch said. "They came out quick. We were caught back on our heels. In the second half, we picked it up. We have a strong team with a lot of depth."

The comeback showed Broadfording's resiliency.

"We showed a lot of heart in coming back in the second half," Grimm said. "We were taking it one goal at a time."

Ho Dong Choi scored two goals -- one in the 10th minute and the other in the 12th -- to give Goretti an early 2-0 lead. The second goal came off an assist by Rodrigo Reyna.

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