Doxa celebrated winning the Region IV title with a very hard fought battle on Sunday, giving the team its first birth in the National Amateur tournament that takes place in Kentucky this summer. A spot in the Lamar Hunt Open Cup was cemented on Saturday when Doxa finished top of group play. That game will take place in June.
Doxa 1 – 1 DV-B
(Doxa win 4-1 on Pks)
After going 1-0 down early in the first half, Doxa battled for the remainder of the game to find an equalizer – and managed to do so in the 78th minute to force extra time. It took the team a while to get things going in the first half, with the 4th game of the weekend on a soft, high grass surface seeming to take full effect on player legs. The DV-8 goal came off a free kick, with a curling ball meeting the head of a DV-8 player.
Doxa went to a 3-4-3 in the second half looking to find an equalizer. After several good chances, the goal finally came off a Steve Chirgwin free kick. His cross met the head of captain Nas Koubouras, who played the ball back across goal to the on-rushing Bryan Byrne. Byrne finished a diving header into the top corner. For the remainder of the game, including two 15 minute overtime periods, Doxa pushed for a winner but just couldn’t manage to finish things off.
When it came to penalties, the Doxa boys went 4 for 4, with Steve Chirgwin, David Adams, Andrew Villalobos and Andrew Marinez all scoring. Marinez was the one who knocked the all important PK in the bottom right corner, sending the keeper the wrong way. In goals, Brian Burdue got his hand on the first penalty, while his presence in goals made the DV-8 2nd and 3rd PK taker send their shots over the bar, sealing Doxa’s win!
Goals:
#1 – Bryan Byrne (Koubouras)
