Bulldogs Pick Up Key District Win

No. 7 Stone Bridge Handles No. 10 Langley

By Paul Tenorio

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Stone Bridge junior defender Abdul Shaban was playing his fifth game in five days, had only returned from a tournament in Ohio the night before and was due for some rest, Coach Randy May said before the game.

But despite the jam-packed schedule and the tired legs as a result, Shaban's performance in Monday night's Virginia AAA Liberty District matchup with No. 10 Langley led the visiting seventh-ranked Bulldogs to a commanding 4-1 victory.

Shaban's driven free kick from 35 yards broke open a scoreless tie in the first half, and two long services on set pieces in the second half directly led to goals for the Bulldogs, who were most dangerous on restarts throughout the night.

"I was exhausted before this game started," Shaban said. "The fact that it was [Langley's] senior night and it's Langley, we had to come out [strong], so that just gave me energy the whole game. So I had to push through the whole way."

Stone Bridge (7-1-1, 3-1-1) had not put much together through the run of play in the first half hour of the contest - if anything, the Saxons had the better opportunities, forcing Bulldogs goalkeeper Matt Miscione to make several saves.

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Stone Bridge Beats Langley

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Langley's Dylan Price and Stone Bridge's Robert Swasey battle for possession. (Joel Richardson)

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Langley goalie Alec Constantine saves a scoring attempt by Stone Bridge's Michael Herndon only to have it deflect off a defender for Stone Bridge's second goal. (Joel Richardson)

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Stone Bridge's Abdul Shaban, left, celebrates his long free kick that scored in the first half. (Joel Richardson)

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But with just more than 10 minutes remaining in the first half, Shaban lined up a free kick from about 35 yards out near the right sideline and hit a ball over the outstretched arm of the Langley goalkeeper, who got a touch on the ball before it smacked off the far post and into the net, and suddenly the Bulldogs held a lead.

"To be honest with you, I was crossing it in," Shaban said. "I was trying to get it to the back post. Over-hit it a little bit, the wind carried it a little bit and it went right over the keeper, hit the post and went in."

The goal provided a lift to Stone Bridge, and six minutes later the Bulldogs doubled their lead when forward Mike Herndon was freed on a one-on-one with the goalkeeper.

Herndon's shot was saved at the top of the box, but the rebound appeared to smack off a Langley defender and rebounded into the empty net.

Langley (6-2-2, 4-1-1) pulled to within one in the second half when Stone Bridge failed to clear a ball and Saxons sophomore Nima Kassiri finished inside the right post.

But Shaban's free kick just more than two minutes later was directed back across the net to junior Mervin Levy, who was alone at the top of the box and easily tucked it home.

And with just more than 15 minutes remaining, Herndon headed a Shaban free kick back to the top of the box, where it was decisively finished by sophomore Tarik El Hamdani to seal the outcome.

Notes: The defeat was the first for the Saxons since a 2-1 loss to Oakton on March 13. In between, Langley had gone 6-0-1 and outscored opponents 16-3. In its last three games against Stone Bridge, Langley has been outscored 11-1. ... All but two of the 17 goals scored by Stone Bridge this season have come off restarts, including three of the four Monday.

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks