Time didn't actually stand still late in the second half of Saturday's Class AAA state soccer sectional match, but it certainly must've felt that way to East Hamilton.
A few minutes after the Hurricanes scored to take a two-goal lead over Columbia Central with the clock showing 7:23 remaining, the referee announced that there were actually 12 minutes left in the match.
In that time, Columbia managed to get one goal closer, but despite the Lions' flurry of opportunities, East Hamilton held on for a 3-2 victory that puts them in the state tournament next week in Murfreesboro.
"I was feeling pretty good when we got up 3-1 with 10 minutes left," East Hamilton coach Patrick Daverson said.
"Then the ref added more minutes and we had to reset the clock. With 12 minutes left, being down two goals is doable. You can score in a heartbeat, and they did. They cut the lead in half relatively quickly, and they were battling for that last one."
The Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead into halftime after a goal from Jordan Takrouri, but the Lions equalized 14 minutes into the second period. Jackson Williams sent a free kick high off the outstretched hands of East Hamilton keeper Zack Thomas, who made several outstanding plays to preserve the tie before the Hurricanes scored again.
"We had outstanding play by our defense," Daverson said. "They're really starting to come together at the right time. Our keeper is playing phenomenal. Zack kept us in our last game against Cookeville, and he kept us in this game today. They had some shots there that were just incredible saves."
With 14:33 remaining, the Columbia keeper attempted to clear a ball, but Cooper Loftin was there to fire it back off the retreating keeper and into the net. About seven minutes later, Loftin sent in a free kick from just outside he box, and Thomas Barcelona was there to head it in and give the Hurricanes a 3-1 advantage.
Soon after, the clock was adjusted to reflect the added stoppage time, and Columbia quickly scored off a deflection to make it 3-2. The Lions pushed their keeper up to add to their pressure in the final minutes, and had a number of scoring chances before the whistle finally blew.
"It was very intense," Daverson said of the final minutes of play. "There's nothing that can really even describe it. You're sitting there thinking of all the different ways things can happen, and you're just trying to keep the ball away and continuing to shoot. You're trying to figure out how to burn time and keep the ball away from them."
When they did, the Hurricanes (10-6-1) celebrated a return trip to the state tournament, where they will begin play on Tuesday.
"This was their goal back in December when we first started running and lifting," Daverson said. "It's paid off. Now we're one of the final eight and we're going to Murfreesboro. It's been a long ride and we've had two really tough battles to get there."
(E-mail Jaime Barrett at
jaimenbarrett@gmail.com)