The middle linebacker in Zac Thomas came out, and just at the right time for the East Hamilton soccer team.
With the Hurricanes ahead by a goal in extra time against a determined Columbia team, goalkeeper Thomas -- who patrols the middle for the football 'Canes -- used his aggressive nature to shut the door in the final hectic moments of a 3-2 Class AAA sectional win Saturday.
Thomas' most football-like save was his final one. During an extra time that seemed like eternity for his team and coach Patrick Daverson, the visitors unleashed a relentless attack that led to three consecutive free kicks and a corner.
Thomas turned the first away, the second hit the right post and bounced away and the third one was blocked by the back line of the defense and went out of bounds. On the resulting corner kick, however, hard-striking Jackson Williams ended up with the ball eight feet away and unleashed a rocket that Thomas managed to deflect.
The ball rebounded to the right of the goal as the Lions streaked in en masse. Thomas foiled their efforts by diving on the loose ball, Lions bouncing off as he came up triumphantly with the prize. Seconds after he cleared it, the final whistle sounded and the 'Canes celebrated their upcoming trip to the state quarterfinals in Murfreesboro.
"That loose ball, I just had to dive on it," the burly Thomas said. "I had to scoop that ball up, just like a fumble. The last couple of minutes they had the pressure on us. We just fought hard and cleared all the balls away we could. I have to give a lot of credit to my back line for working so hard."
East Hamilton (10-7-2) took a 1-0 lead 14 minutes into the game when Jordan Takrouri nudged a shot past Colton Thomason on a feed from Jose Orellana. It was one of just four first-half shots for the 'Canes, but it was enough to allow them to concentrate on the defensive end as they held that narrow lead at the break.
Fifteen minutes into the second half, however, Williams scored on a free kick to tie the game. Ten minutes later East Hamilton retook the lead on an improbable goal by midfielder Cooper Loftin.
A long kick was headed straight for the Columbia goal and keeper Thomason came out to clear it. However, his strong kick was met in the air by Loftin's backside, the ball bouncing straight backward and into the goal for a 2-1 lead.
Seven minutes later Thomas Bercelona headed in a rebound after Loftin's hard free kick to give the East Hamilton a 3-1 advantage. The clock showed under 10 minutes to play but the head ref soon announced there was considerably more time left, causing concern that was soon realized on the leaders' bench.
"I was feeling pretty good when we were up 3-1 with 10 minutes left," Daverson said. "During several stoppages they added seven minutes to the clock. I was like, 'What?' With six minutes left it looked good, but with 12 minutes still to play it's doable and you saw what happened."
Sure enough, with eight minutes remaining a Columbia shot hit the leg of an East Hamilton defender and eluded Thomas to cut the margin to one. From that moment the Lions (15-3-1) attacked with relentless abandon, though Thomas and crew repeatedly turned them back.
"We had outstanding play from our defense, and our keeper is playing phenomenally," Daverson said. "He had several big stops. He kept us in our last game against Cookeville (region finals), and he kept us in this one with some incredible stops.
"I don't know if it's really an upset, but I do believe a lot of people will be surprised that we got through. This is what we've been working so hard for, so I'm very proud of them."
Contact Lindsey Young at lyoung@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6296.