By Aro Majumder
For the Austin Sports Journal
GEORGETOWN – Vandegrift goalie Finn Snyder wasn’t sure if his defensive line could hear him throughout the state championship game on Saturday afternoon.
The noise at Birkelbach Stadium in Georgetown was rather loud from the wind and raucous fans.
However, the Vipers (21-3-3) have been here before and was making their second-straight state tournament appearance. This time, the outcome was much different.
Vandegrift took the bite out of the Mesquite Skeeters and claimed its first soccer state championship with a 3-1 victory on Saturday.
“We learned how to get here last year and when we got here, it was a lot about the experience,” said Vandegrift head coach Jonathan Winship. “This time, we weren’t here for the experience. We were here for the trophy.”
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Using the lessons learned from last year’s semifinal loss, Vandegrift scored more than two goals for the first time in this year’s playoffs and allowed just four shots on goal by Mesquite.
“It means more than you can even think,” said goalkeeper Finn Snyder. “Coming in, as a freshman, we hadn’t really won anything other than two playoffs games. So, coming in here last year, making all the way to the semis and now improving on that, winning the state championship, means the world. Shows how good of a culture we’ve built over the past four years.”
The Vipers scored efficiently amidst choppy play from both sides. They were the early aggressors, sending two shots crashing into the outside of the netting early in the first half.
Hehman, who was selected as the game’s most valuable player, put in the Vipers first goal from more than 25 yards. The ball dipped in the windy conditions and flew past a diving Mesquite goalie Adan Ramirez.
Moments later, Kjell Snyder passed to Nabhi Shrimal, who was into a one-on-one with the goalie. Again Vandegrift caught Mesquite in transition, and Shrimal calmly placed the ball around a charging Ramirez.
Blake Melcher nearly added a third marker right before halftime, but he couldn’t stuff in either of his two shots on goal during a scramble inside the six-yard box.
It took a little under six minutes after the break for another Vandegrift player to do what Melcher couldn’t. Nick Abeling slammed in a long throw-in from Jason Panoff to give the Vipers a comfrtable 3-0 lead with 35 minutes left in the game.
Vandegrift lost some control of the proceedings after bumping up its advantage.
Mesquite’s Augustin Robles notched one goal back for the Skeeters (19-4-4) in the 61st minute, and another Skeeters chance was called back for offside.
“We just looked at each other in the eyes and said we have to focus up,” Finn Snyder said. “We started subbing, getting in fresh legs and keeping up the intensity, and it just led to a fantastic finish.”
