Hornets soar to championship

Orange County’s Cody Fincham was just waiting, hoping the ball would somehow pop out of the scrum.

“The ball was over on the weak side and I saw [Western goalie Charles] Stump going over there, being real aggressive,” Fincham said. “I figured I’d cut in and get right in front of the net and sure enough the ball came out.”

The Hornets’ Schuyler Whelan made a leaping kick near the end line to cross the ball to Fincham. The senior forward then buried the ball in the back of the net in the 75th minute for a 2-1 Orange victory that lifted the Hornets to a Jefferson District tournament title.

Fincham and the Hornets celebrated wildly after what would become the game-winner, and then Orange went back to work, holding off a couple of desperation runs by the Warriors, including an Alex Nolet shot just before the whistle blew that Orange goalie Joe Morrison saved.

Fincham’s goal came a little more than three minutes after Orange’s Ben Freeman punched in an equalizer with 10 minutes left in the contest on a well-placed pass from Josh Moon. The Hornets were unable to convert on a number of good chances throughout the game, including a Freeman miss just minutes before his goal that left the senior screaming on the ground.

“After all that frustration, to finally come through and get that chance, it was just exhilarating,” Freeman said.

Freeman, Orange’s center defender and the Jefferson District player of the year, began pressing up into the offensive zone with about 15 minutes to play. Orange also switched to a three-forward front, which created some rotation problems for the Warriors.

“We were able to counter better and the balls were moving quicker,” Freeman said. “We were able to penetrate on them and then we got in.”

Freeman has been a midfielder and forward for most of his career at Orange, so moving him up seemed

to be the most logical move for a Hornets squad that was still trailing in the late stages. Orange also got aggressive offensively, abandoning some of the possession play that the Hornets offense relied on throughout a big chunk of the second half.

“We finally made the correction of getting it wide and then bringing it in,” said Orange coach Dwane Pugh. “And it just happened at the right time.”

Aaron Myers put Western up with a nifty goal off an Andy Stafford assist with less than 10 minutes to play in the first half, and the Warriors led until the final 10 minutes when Freeman broke through.

“We were sagging back and letting them play in those spaces in front of our goal,” said Western coach Paul Rittenhouse. “That created some problems for us. If we’re going to make defense a priority, it doesn’t mean that we can just hunker down and stop being aggressive.”

Both squads will play in the Region II tournament next week, with Western taking on Park View-Sterling on Monday. Orange will get a bye in the first round and will begin tournament play on Wednesday.