Boys soccer: Barons title is picture-perfect

Bethesda-Chevy Chase 1, Bel Air 0

But none of that mattered on Saturday night, as the two heroes of the Barons’ title-winning team doggy-piled on the ground in celebration. They were part of a team that had finished just 4-8-1 the year before, a far cry from teams of yesteryear that had made the state playoffs four straight years from 2001 to 2004. And they certainly weren’t predicted to get anywhere near South River High School in Edgewater for the state’s season finale.

None of that seems to matter anymore.

‘‘I knew we were going to do it,” said White, whose brother Nigel starred on the team’s last state champion six years ago (2001). ‘‘I knew we could do it last year. We just played together and never got down on each other ever. It’s the best feeling.”

The team’s two leading scorers on the season, White and Williams entered the state final with a combined 15 goals.

And they were both instrumental on Saturday night. After a relatively quiet first half on all fronts, the Barons (12-3-2 record) struck almost without warning as the second half began. Freshman forward Stephen Sawicki threw a long pass into the box that skipped to Williams, a first-year varsity player, who quickly turned and rifled a shot into the right corner of the net.

‘‘When we get on the bus, this will all go through my head,” said Williams. ‘‘I wanted to get moved up last year, but they didn’t give me a chance. I got my chance and I showed them what they missed.”

His performance climaxed a tremendous postseason, in which he scored a game-tying goal against Watkins Mill in the 3A West Region semifinals, a game-winner against Urbana in the regional final, and assisted on junior forward Chris Woodruff’s game-winner against Northern in the state semifinals.

White saved his heroics for the defensive end. A back by nature, he has adeptly played out of position at center midfield for the Barons all season. Yet with the game in the balance, he made an instinctive slide tackle on Bel Air forward Nick Burdick with just over five minutes to go. Burdick had the ball on his foot just short of the penalty box, and Baron goalkeeper Roger Kirk was in a precarious position, but White deflected the ball out of bounds. It was the Bobcats’ best and last chance.

Among other heroes for B-CC included Kirk, who made two diving saves late in the second half. And the Barons’ backfield of senior Bruce Spake, Chinelo Harvey, Mark Maalouf and Adriel Cabello were nearly flawless, not allowing a Bel Air (15-4-1) shot on goal for the first 60 minutes of the game.

All laid triumphantly on the field clutching the state championship trophy while first-year head coach Sean Karns simply smiled and exhaled.

A thousand words wouldn’t give that picture justice either.

‘‘To be honest, I’m really glad it’s over, and so is my wife,” said Karns. ‘‘What an exciting year, huh? Too exciting. But you know, I really wasn’t ever scared like, ‘Oh my God, they’ve got us.’ I was confident. The boys deserve it and I knew they were going to pull through.”