Despite having to play for nearly 30 minutes with just 10 players, Lakeside managed to outplay the Little Rock Christian Warriors and advance to this weekend's Class 5A state soccer final at the University of Arkansas' Razorback Field in Fayetteville.
Russell Gartner received his second yellow card of the match with 28:30 remaining in the second half, leaving the Rams (18-6-1) with just 10 players to finish the match. The fact that Lakeside was down a man was not apparent to Little Rock Christian (15-8) as the Rams managed to score the game-winning goal with just seconds remaining.
"It was very intense," said Lakeside head coach Craig Moses. "It was a nail-biter. It was just another exciting game in the state tournament."
The Warriors managed to take a 1-0 lead into the break as Elliot Hankins scored after breaking free of a pair of Ram defenders about 18 yards off the right post. Hankins' shot went under a diving Devin Nieto into the center of the net.
Coming into the second half fresh, the Rams wasted no time in evening the score. With a free kick called for the Rams with around two minutes off the clock, Brandon Chambers took the indirect kick near the half-pitch line on the left side. Philip Gayle got a head on it about 12 yards off the right post before the ball dropped in front of Grant Viscardis who right-footed it in to make it 1-1.
Little Rock Christian was able to go ahead once again with about 17 minutes remaining as Hankins again put the ball in the back of the net. Hankins received the corner kick from Jacob Morrison, heading the ball from about 14 yards off the goal line over an outstretched Nieto into the top right corner to make it 2-1.
About a minute later, Viscardis crossed the ball high from about 35 yards off the left post to Gayle, who rushed the ball in from inside 10 yards to level the score once again.
The effect of the high temperatures began to become evident as the players started to slow, but with less than 20 seconds left in the match, Luke Long managed to find the back of the net from about 30 yards out to send the Rams to the state finals.
"The kids were starting to cramp up, but they knew it was now or never," Moses said of the last few minutes of the match. "They fought hard. That last shot by Luke -- I can't describe it. We are fortunate to be where we're at. It could have easily gone the other way."
Nieto had another impressive game in the goal for the Rams, tallying 14 saves and nine blocks versus the two goals allowed for an 93.3 percent save rating.
"He got kneed in the face, and it busted his nose," Moses said of an injury that Nieto suffered about 10 minutes into the second half. "We had to try to stop the bleeding. It took about five minutes, and we put him back in.
"He had a great game. There at the end, they had two or three direct kicks to him. He laid out and dove for the saves. He played strong."
The Rams had 24 shots with 13 on-goal for 54.2 percent efficiency.
Warriors' sophomore keeper Luke Henry finished with seven saves and one block for a save percentage of 70, and Little Rock Christian's defense added three saves and a block to raise the team's rating to 76.9 percent. The Warriors shot 16 of their 31 on target for 51.6 percent efficiency.
Moses was excited to see his team advance to the final with the possibility of keeping the Class 5A state soccer title in Garland County.
"It feels great," he said. "We've got a lot of seniors, and we've had about a four-year dry spell. They've worked hard over their career to get to this point, and they've overcome a lot of adversity. This is just another sign of what our character is like."
The Rams will face Valley View (20-3-2) this weekend in the Class 5A state soccer final in Fayetteville. The time and date for the final has not been set but will be either Friday or Saturday at Razorback Field.
Sports on 05/13/2018