HHS Boys Advance to Concorde Championship Game

Twelve months ago, The Herndon High boys’ varsity soccer team played rival Oakton three times within a 10-day period. Two of those matches took place in the postseason. And both times the Hornets came out on the losing end. Their undefeated regular season seemed moot. But last night Coach Sean Lanigan and his men avenged those losses with a 4-1 victory versus the Cougars in the Concorde semifinal, to advance to the district championship game on Friday.

“We wanted to meet Oakton in the semifinals,” said Lanigan. “We thought we’d stand a chance with them and we completely neutralized them (at midfield).”

EK Korvah, with a goal and two assists on the night, led his Hornets to a 3-0 lead heading into the half. The senior forward has been on fire this postseason and Lanigan said his leadership has been crucial.

“Patrick (McLaughlin) is causing a lot of attention up front, which is freeing EK and he’s running up and scoring goals,” Lanigan said regarding Korvah’s aggressive play as of late. “EK has been a threat all year—but he hasn’t been scoring the goals, but right now he’s scoring his chances.”

But Lanigan said the win was a total team effort as Abdi Yusef and Brian May, who was pulled up from junior varsity for last night’s playoff game, also put the ball in the back of the net for Herndon, as Carlos Mendoza set them up on assists. The coach added that his seniors have grown up and shown maturity this season. Positive communication became key and if a player was out of position, his teammate helped him get back to the right spot. It might sound simplistic, but all the little things add up and that growth just might be what it takes for Herndon to go further in the postseason than it did in 2011.

Oakton would not score until 20 minutes into the second half on a penalty kick. Alex Bednarek led Herndon’s back-line, which stuffed the Cougar attack. Lanigan said Bednarek, who will join Korvah at West Point in the fall, played strong defensively which allowed the Hornets to “counter-attack on the flank.”

“When [Oakton] played on our field, we tried to sprint us too much and their three center-mids totally dominated,” Lanigan said. “That’s where they got their goals. But [now] they didn’t have an answer for EK.”

Herndon will play Chantilly, who upset Robinson Wednesday night, in the Concorde Championship Friday night at Westfield High School.

“It’s a big game for us, not only in terms of championship but in terms of seeding,” Langian said. “It’s the third and fourth seed in the championship and whoever wins will get the first seed (Regionals.) For us it’s all about getting that home field advantage.”

And when asked what Herndon’s goal for the rest of the playoffs was, the coach said, “we just want banners.”