Gallery by Heather Belcher
Some players have a nose for the ball at critical times.
Beckley senior midfielder A.J. Bishop fits that description.
Thursday afternoon, Bishop scored on a pass from fellow senior Michael Fayiah for a dramatic 3-2 double-overtime win against Wheeling Park in the Class AAA state semifinal match.
Saturday in the championship game against No. 1 seed Hurricane, Bishop was back in the spotlight and just in the nick of time.
With seven seconds to go Bishop delivered the game-winning assist to Hagen Hall.
Hall’s game winner came with 3.8 seconds remaining in regulation time and gave the Flying Eagles a 2-1 lead, securing Beckley’s first soccer title since 2010.
“I knew there wasn’t much time left. The ball boy was right there, so I got the ball and threw it down the line to (Jackson) Schroder, hoping it would come back. It came back and I hit it off my hip,” Bishop said. “I turned and took one or two touches then played the ball straight to Hagen (Hall). I know he loves those (balls) right on his left (foot) and he poked it in. We had a similar one against South Charleston.”
“It’s history. You can’t really put it into words,” Bishop continued, smiling. “It’s insane.”
Beckley opened the regular season with a 2-0 loss to the Redskins in the same venue they met in Saturday. It was one of only two losses for the Flying Eagles all season, while Hurricane entered Saturday’s clash unbeaten.
The visitors took the first step towards a sweep when Jackson Willis poked in a loose ball for a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute.
Beckley’s ability to quickly answer back became one of the keys of the match.
Taking a direct kick from Vince Umberger, Coby Dillon evened the match in the 18th minute knocking in a winner off of his shoulder for a 1-1 tie that stood at halftime.
“I think it was a game of two halves. I think we were the better team in the first half,” Beckley head coach Steve Laraba said. “We had chances that we should have taken that we didn’t. In the second half, Hurricane came out and just put it to us. It was hard to get instructions out to the guys because it was very loud.”
The second half was all Hurricane with the Flying Eagles holding back the Redskin attack as best they could.
Connor Jackson ripped a shot that banged off of the far post and was gathered by Harris Coulter whose shot was rejected on a diving save from Beckley keeper Bryson Doss.
Twice the Redskins hit a shot just wide of the far post bringing large groans from the visiting crowd.
“We just didn’t capitalize on too many opportunities,” Hurricane head coach Kent Bailey said. “They did a great job of just giving us one or two corner kicks throughout the game. Not many set pieces. Woodrow had a game plan and did a really good job executing it.”
It was also clear that the Flying Eagles were not only battling their opponent, they were battling themselves as well.
“I think Thursday’s game, in the second half started to show about how much more competitive, physical and longer our game was on Thursday. It really affected us and Hurricane had fresh legs,” Laraba said. “That is part of being the No. 1 seed. They earned that right and took advantage of it as much as they could. The second half they had chances that they didn’t take. It only takes one chance and we got one. It was really good.”
Although Beckley was fighting the exhaustion, it had been down that road before several times throughout the season.
“We practice this and we work together,” Hall said. “We know not to give up and just keep working hard. That is what did. We didn’t give up and look what happened. We get stuff out of it when we don’t give up and give all of our heart.”
With many in attendance convinced overtime was at hand, Bishop and Hall had other ideas.
“I just wanted to make sure I got it on frame. I knew if I got it on frame, it had a chance. That’s what I did and it went in. (The keeper) was cheating it a little bit. I just had to get my foot on it,” Hall said. “That ball from A.J. was perfect. He is just a clutch player. He is good on the ball. He is good everywhere. He controls the midfield and he is a phenomenal player.”
When Bishop moved forward with the ball and Hall was streaking down the opposite side, the Beckley coach liked what he was seeing play out in front of him.
“I am seeing that we have people going forward and I see Hurricane shift big. We talked about that,” Laraba said. “Sometimes they will have the tendency to over shift. Hagen saw the space and he got in there. He had a great finish. When you have those two going forward with speed, that is a great combination.”
Dillon, who scored in all of Beckley’s postseason matches, had a perfect view of the play.
“I didn’t want to go to overtime. Hurricane is a heck of a team. A.J. threw it in and got it right back. He played a heck of a ball, in the clutch again,” Dillon said. “Hagen was able to finish it with his left. Hagen is not going to miss that ball. It’s surreal.”
While the large crowd from Beckley sat nervously through most of the second half, the euphoric reaction to Hall’s winner was ground-shaking.
“This is wild. This is absolutely wild,” Laraba said. “All of the good emotions, they are there. It is pride, happiness, excitement, it is relief, a little bit. It is just hard to explain, but it is all of the good ones.”
Hall, Bishop, Dillon and defensive standout Jackson Gray were named to the All-Tournament team for Beckley, along with Seth Casto, Harris Coulter and Kellon Schmidt from Hurricane.
