Hawks rally for draw with Warriors

Posted 9/25/14

It didn’t end up that way on the scoreboard, but Tuesday’s 3-3 draw with Central Falls felt a lot like a win for the Bishop Hendricken soccer team.

Down three goals with 16 minutes to play, …

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Hawks rally for draw with Warriors

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It didn’t end up that way on the scoreboard, but Tuesday’s 3-3 draw with Central Falls felt a lot like a win for the Bishop Hendricken soccer team.

Down three goals with 16 minutes to play, the Hawks dug deep and came all the way back. They got goals from Craig Conway, Chukwuma Onyejose and Brennan Bica, all in a seven-minute span, to earn the draw and a point.

Coming back in that fashion against any team would have been an accomplishment, but erasing a three-goal deficit against an unbeaten Warriors team made it that much more significant.

“We got down three and I was really proud of the guys that they kept their heads up, kept themselves in the game when it’s really easy to say, ‘Well that’s it, game’s done,’” said Hendricken assistant coach Bill Johnston.

Hendricken improved to 2-1-1 with the draw and is now on a three-game unbeaten streak since losing its opener 6-2 to unbeaten Shea. Central Falls is 4-0-2.

Things looked dire for the Hawks after a first half in which they were vastly outplayed and struggled to maintain possession, and they looked even worse when the Warriors’ Alexi Flores hammered a shot past Hendricken goalkeeper Alex Amado 24 minutes into the second half.

That made the score 3-0, and Johnston and the Hendricken staff decided to change up the formation in the hopes of producing at least some offense. Traditionally in a 4-4-2, the Hawks moved into a 4-3-3.

It worked almost immediately.

Four minutes after Flores’ goal, freshman Chukwuma Onyejose dribbled deep into the Central Falls corner, stopped and sent a pass to Conway who was in the middle about 25 yards from the goal. Conway stopped the ball and then connected solidly on a shot that skipped into the left side of the net past keeper Sergio Rivera.

Hendricken suddenly had life.

“It seemed to work pretty well,” Johnston said. “The kids adapted and changed from the formation we were playing. That was the first time we played the new formation.”

Four minutes after that, the Hawks had even more life. Onyejose again dribbled hard up the sideline, this time to the right, and then turned on the goal line and went toward Rivera. From close range he fired a high shot that Rivera got a hand on but couldn’t stop, as it fell over his head and into the goal to make it 3-2.

“After we got the second one I think we started believing,” Johnston said.

And Hendricken still wasn’t done, as four minutes after that Onyejose carried up the left side and drew two defenders towards him. With no one covering the middle, Onyejose passed up the shot and dropped a pass backwards toward the 18, where Bica ran on to it and side-footed a shot into the goal to tie the score.

Onyejose, and his twin brother Chukwudi, were difference makers all night, and the freshmen helped spark the Hawks off the bench when they were down by the three goals. Chukwuma Onyejose had a hand in all three.

“They’re very, very quick,” Johnston said. “They add a different dimension. They’re coming along really, really well. We’re happy that there’s not just one, but two. They’re great. Good kids.”

The three goals Central Falls surrendered were the most it’s given up this season, and they added to Hendricken’s total, which is now 16 through four games. The Hawks had previously scored four and seven in wins over Chariho and Tolman.

Yet, Hendricken almost added to its three-goal total, nearly taking the lead and winning the game in the final seconds against the Warriors. Christian Kirby put a bouncing ball on net from directly in front in the 76th minute that Rivera saved – one of his 13 saves on the day – and the Hawks had two corners right afterwards that came up empty.

“(Cenral Falls is) happy probably to get out of here with a tie as well,” Johnston said.

The difference in the two halves – and especially the last 15 minutes – was stark. Central Falls dominated in the first half, scoring first in the seventh minute when Keller Pina dribbled through the middle of the box from left to right, moved just past the post and then rifled a shot in.

Two minutes into the second half, Jean Urquiza sent a pass on the ground from the right side to the middle, where Rudy Argueta one-touched it past Amado.

“They’re a great team,” Johnston said. “They move the ball real well, they’ve got a lot of individual talent and they play well as a team. It was a well-played game on both sides.”

Twenty minutes beyond that, Central Falls made it 3-0 and looked to be cruising to a win before Hendricken’s furious comeback.

The Hawks will take a ton of positives from the game and try to keep playing well on Friday, when they travel to first-place, undefeated Central for a game at 4 p.m.

“We’re progressing,” Johnston said. “Start of the season, we’re kind of finding homes for different players and who brings what and so forth. I’m pleased with how it’s going and hopefully it continues on the same path.”

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