Robinson holds off Chantilly in state championship rematch
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Version 0 of 1. With one-tenth of a second showing on the scoreboard, senior midfielder Danny Krug turned to the sideline and confessed to his Robinson teammates that he didn’t see the first-quarter buzzer-beater. It was the play of the game — one that he initiated with a full-field prayer of a pass that bounced right to Johnny Daniel — yet he had no idea it resulted in a goal until he heard the cheering and saw the ball in the back of the Chantilly net. “I thought the play was over,” Krug told his teammates afterward. “I’m gonna have to watch that back on film.” That’s the type of night it was for the two-time defending Virginia 6A champion Rams, who earned a 16-11 road victory on Friday in a rematch of last year’s state final. The Rams won the state championship game, 10-9, in double overtime. On Friday, Robinson (5-1) took advantage of the Chargers’ penalty-plagued first quarter and went ahead 6-2 on Krug’s assist to Daniel, then didn’t look back to earn its first win at Chantilly since 2010. “That was ridiculous,” said Daniel, who had three goals. “He got a sweet groundball and he launched it down. . . . “I went up and snagged it one-handed and shot an underhand shot. It was crazy.” The Rams led from the start by dominating time of possession and scoring timely goals whenever the Chargers threatened. Nick Rowlett and Tyler Iriondo controlled faceoffs for the Rams, while Matthew Bethard made several big saves to slow down the Chargers’ offense. Chantilly (2-4) scored twice to start the second quarter, but the Rams responded with four consecutive goals. Three of those came off bounce shots from Austin Henry, who finished with five goals. The fourth came on another impressive assist from Krug, who danced around the Chantilly defense and dished to Declan Connolly for a sideline-erupting goal. “It feels really good,” Krug said, “and since we haven’t won on this field since 2010, that makes it even better to go out there and get the win.” Chantilly stormed back in the second half, with Colin Meehan and Ethan Malo netting two quick goals and senior Collin Zimmerman cutting the deficit to 12-10 late in the third quarter. But the Rams rebounded with back-to-back goals from Liam Curran, who added a third on a wrap-around in the third quarter that sealed the victory. “It’s good to come back on this field where we felt so much disappointment last year and come out with a win,” Krug said. |