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High Point High School's Eric Medrano and his teammates took the 4A South Region championship plaque Tuesday night and ran to the stands to celebrate with the fans. This was something the Eagles and their fans had been waiting for since 2002.

Medrano scored three goals as High Point defeated Bladensburg, 3-1, to advance to the Class 4A boys' soccer state semifinals. The Eagles will face Whitman in a state semifinal game at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Blair High School in Silver Spring. Whitman beat Bethesda-Chevy Chase, 1-0, in the 4A West Region final on Tuesday.

Medrano's first goal came less than 5 minutes into the game when his shot bounced off the goalpost and into the back of the net. His second goal came less than 3 minutes later. A free kick by Bebe Maxime went over the Bladensburg defense, and Medrano beat the goalie to the ball to give the Eagles an early 2-0 lead.

High Point coach Michael Holt said Medrano has been playing like this all year, and that he is the leader of this High Point team.

"Awesome is the only thing I can say," Holt said of Medrano's play. "He keeps scoring goal after goal after goal for us. I really can't find the words to describe the type of player that he is."

Bladensburg answered Medrano's second goal quickly when Joseph Castillo blasted a free kick past High Point goalie Herman Keungaze to cut the Eagles lead to 2-1.

But High Point regained a two-goal lead with less than 9 minutes to play in the half. Damian Malcolm's shot deflected off of a Bladensburg player and went right to Merdano, who put the ball into the back of the net for a 3-1 lead.

Bladensburg coach Joe Ogunsanya said he switched things up defensively in the second half, dropping a midfielder back to help defend Medrano.

The Mustangs had a chance to get back into the game when Victor Hernandez had two shots on the High Point goal. But his header hit the crossbar and his rebound shot went wide of the net. The High Point defense made it difficult for Bladensburg to get anything going in the second half.

"We got a bunch of guys that are very good and work extremely hard," Holt said. "They are determined to get everything that comes back to them. I ask them to give 110 percent every time and they do it."

The Mustangs' offense also was crippled with the absence of two starters. Javier Moreno and Nelson Cortez were ruled ineligible because of grades.

The Mustangs, who were the top seed in the 4A South Region playoffs, finished the season with a 12-3 record. They knocked off the defending state champion Bowie Bulldogs in the regional semifinals. An encore performance next year is not out of the question. Bladensburg will lose four senior starters from this year's squad.

Castillo, a sophomore, and Hernandez, a junior, both are slated to return for Bladensburg, which should give the Mustangs' offense plenty of firepower heading into next season.

"It's my first year with these guys and we had a really good season," Ogunsanya said. "This is not the end for us. I told the guys we just have to keep playing. Hopefully next season we can do this again."

E-mail Joshua Hudson at

jhudson@gazette.net.