By Carl Lukat
Times-Mirror Staff Writer
Leesburg (Apr. 19, 2008) – Heritage High School soccer players Josh Thiel and Amadu Bangaru have a brotherly bond.
“He and I have been playing together since we were 10 and he lives with us now. He’s my adopted brother,” Thiel said of Bangaru. “We met through soccer when he was on my club team. He needed a place to live so my parents and I took him in. He’s been living with us ever since.”
So it came as no surprise when Thiel knew exactly where Bangaru was positioned inside the penalty box during the first overtime of Friday’s match against host Loudoun County.
After rallying twice from one-goal deficits to force overtime, Pride senior Bryan Mill sent a free kick from just inside the midfield stripe into the box in the final minute of the first, five-minute extra session.
Mills’ volley found Thiel, who quickly headed the ball diagonally over to Bangaru along the right side of the box. Bangaru collected the header and scored easily to give Heritage a 3-2 lead.
The Raiders were not able to muster much pressure on Pride goalkeeper Luke Dauberman in the second overtime as the Pride held on for the 3-2 victory.
“I headed it to my brother Amadu and he just tapped it in,” Thiel said. “I saw him open. We just connect like that.”
The Pride have connected on the field throughout this season. The comeback victory helped Heritage improve to 7-0 in the Dulles District and 8-0 overall.
“I think this was a good test for us. Sometimes, we need that,” said first-year Heritage coach Betsy Munson, who guided Clarke County to Virginia Group A titles in 2005 and 2006. “We need to get the challenge to see how we are going to handle it. I like the fact that we were composed and didn’t panic.”
Bangaru and Thiel also scored in regulation for the Pride. Bangaru found the back of the net late in the first half to erase a 1-0 deficit, and Thiel netted his goal with six minutes left in regulation to force overtime. Senior Luis Brun Rodriguez assisted on both goals.
Thiel and Munson praised the Raiders’ effort after the match. This was the first meeting between the Leesburg programs since Loudoun County defeated Heritage in last year’s Dulles District tournament championship match.
“County and us have always been rivals. They always get up to play us and we always get up to play them so it’s always been a good match,” Thiel said. “When they got a lead, we just kept our composure and played our game.”
Senior Matt Backenstoss scored in the 13th minute and assisted on junior Bryan Wynkoop’s second-half goal for the Raiders (2-4, 3-5). Sophomore goalkeeper Calle Brown made a couple of big saves in the second half to protect County’s one-goal lead before Thiel’s equalizer.
“You have to really credit Loudoun County,” Munson said. “They had a couple of really good set pieces and they battled hard.”
Heritage completed a perfect run through the first half of its Dulles District schedule. The Pride will square off with defending Dulles District regular season and Region II champions, Potomac Falls on Tuesday night. Heritage won the first meeting, 1-0 on March 28.
“We have a target on our backs now being undefeated. And that’s the way it should be,” Munson said. “We are going to get everybody’s best shot and we should. We just have to be up for the challenge. I was very proud of them. They wanted it and played that way.”
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