Heathwood Hall tops Cardinal Newman in boys soccer state semifinal
Heathwood Hall’s Nygel Vaughn wasn’t happy about allowing a goal late in the first half of Wednesday’s SCISA 3A boys’ soccer semifinal.
The senior goalkeeper made up for it in the second half when he stopped Wyatt Millard’s penalty kick and then scooped it up to prevent a rebound with 10 minutes left in helping preserve Heathwood Hall’s 2-1 victory against Cardinal Newman.
The Highlanders advance to Saturday’s championship match against Porter-Gaud. The match will be played at Heathwood at noon.
“I was ticked I didn’t get the first one. I should have had it,” Vaughn said of allowing Millard’s penalty kick in the first half. “But I thought he might switch it up and I dove right, got lucky and covered it up before he could get there.
“This is so huge. We have been so close every year, gaining and gaining. We’ve got six seniors who have played here five years, so it feels good to get where we want to be at the end of the year.”
Heathwood coach Andrew Richardson had high praise for Vaughn, who finished with 14 saves as Cardinal Newman dominated shots on goal and corner kicks. The Cardinals outshot Heathwood Hall 29-3 in the match.
“I have seen a lot of good performances, but it is the best single-game performance I have ever seen,” Richardson said. “But that is what Nygel does. He is back there for his athleticism and ability to stop shots. And he is back there to make the one save when everything else breaks down.
“He was outstanding, and our back four dealt with every bit of pressure they threw at us. We just fought through it the entire time.”
Thomas Barton and Brandon Hill each scored goals for the Highlanders. Hill’s header nine minutes into the second half turned out to be the game-winner.
It was Heathwood’s first victory against over Cardinal Newman since 2005, which was the last time the Highlanders played for a championship. The Cardinals won the two matches this year, including spoiling Heathwood’s senior night, 4-2, on May 2.
The game was the last boys’ soccer match at Watson Field, with Cardinal Newman playing its games next season at its new campus on Alpine Road.
“I can’t put into words what this team has meant to me,” said Richardson, a former Cardinal Newman assistant. “They have done everything I asked for five years, and we knew it was a process. We knew we were coming into the lion’s den, and we talked all year about wanting this one chance to come here and have a shot to go to state. We took advantage of the opportunity.”
Heathwood wasted no time in scoring as Barton scored his third goal of the season, less than two minutes into the match to make it 1-0. The score remained that way when Will Chontos was taken down and Cardinal Newman was awarded a penalty kick with less than a minute remaining in the first half.
Millard snuck the penalty kick past Vaughn to tie it at 1 going into halftime.
The Highlanders took the lead when Hill, a Duke football signee, headed an Aiden Powers free kick to make it 2-1. It was Hill’s 14th goal of the year.
Cardinal Newman finished the season at 15-7. The Cardinals had won the last three and four of the past five SCISA 3A championships.
This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 10:09 PM.