Jordan a win from state in first season
Foster possessed the invaluable experience. Jordan brought the youthful exuberance.
When it was all said and done, the latter won the day.
Jordan scribed another prolific entry in the program’s mint-condition history book with a 3-1 victory over the Falcons in the Region III-5A semifinals at Turner Stadium Friday evening.
Jordan (17-6-2) kept its inaugural varsity season alive by maintaining its composure on defense and netting three unanswered goals in the second half. The go-ahead tally — scored by freshman Noah Betancourt and accompanied by a backflip celebration — came with just 14 minutes remaining.
“Young doesn’t matter,” Jordan coach Jason Meekins said. “They’re soccer players, man. They know how to do it, and they know how to win. They’ve been preparing for this for six, seven months. I told them when we started the program that it didn’t matter if we were freshmen, sophomores, juniors — we’re going to win games, and that’s our plan. They’ve really owned it.”
Jordan will take on Northeast Early College at 1 p.m. Saturday back at Turner with a spot at the state tournament on the line. Northeast defeated Kempner in penalty kicks in the first semifinal.
The winner will advance to compete at Birkelbach Field in Georgetown next week.
“After playing 80 minutes for this game, we just have to rest,” said freshman Marcelo Ojeda, who scored the first goal of the night for the Warriors. “We’ve already done all the training sessions, and we already have the job done. We just have to rest and be ready for tomorrow.”
Foster (17-6-2) was the runner-up in District 24-5A behind Kempner this season, but that did not inhibit the Falcons from making another deep playoff run. After losing to eventual state runner-up Kingwood Park in the regional semifinals last spring, Foster was looking for redemption.
Jordan had other plans, however.
Both teams had some decent scoring opportunities in the first half, but neither was able to capitalize. After the intermission, the Falcons struck quickly. Only about one minute had trickled off the clock before junior Zachary Griffith found the back of the net for the 1-0 advantage.
The Warriors maintained their pressure, however, and it finally paid dividends in the 56th minute when Ojeda tallied the equalizer with an assist from sophomore Chris Segura.
“We knew we could keep the ball, and we knew that our technical ability had to outplay their athleticism,” Meekins said. “We just kept telling the boys — keep playing, and the goal will come. I think Chris Segura came out in the second half and he changed the game on the right side of the field. He created the first goal, and he totally owned the right side of the field in the attacking half.”
After the goal from Betancourt, Jordan put its foot on the gas. Junior Hani Taan handed his team the commanding 3-1 advantage with an assist from Betancourt about four minutes later.
That was more than enough for the Warriors to hang on and secure the triumph.
“Our boys, they don’t know any different,” Meekins said. “They’re going to keep playing and doing everything they can to win for each other. It’s been fun these past four games.”