Facing a must-win situation, the Annapolis Blues men’s team kept their faint playoff hopes alive on Sunday night.
Forward Brady Geho (Curley, St. John’s) scored the game-winning goal in the 67th minute, and midfielder Luke Dunne added a clinching tally in the 90th as the Blues beat the Virginia Marauders, 3-1, before an announced crowd of 7,453 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Sunday night.
Midfielder Dan Klink (Loyola Blakefield, North Carolina) scored the other goal for Annapolis (7-4), which is still mathematically in contention for one of two playoff berths from the Chesapeake Division. The Blues remain in fourth place with three games remaining and would need some help to move up into second.
Defending Chesapeake Division champ Lionsbridge FC (8-1-3) is in first place, followed by Virginia Beach United (9-2-2) and Northern Virginia FC (7-1-3).
The Blues lost four games across two seasons in capturing consecutive Mid-Atlantic Division championships within the National Premier Soccer League. Annapolis moved into the second tier of the United Soccer League this season and has found the competition is tougher.
“I look at how we’ve adjusted to this schedule and I look at the commitment of the players, and I am pleased,” Annapolis coach Colin Herriot said. “You want to win every game, but I like the way we have competed.”
Klink only recently joined the Blues. The Gatorade National Player of the Year made his first start and scored his first goal in short order.
Midfielder Max Viera (Georgetown) threaded a perfect pass to the foot of Klink, who got behind his defender and buried a strong shot into the near corner past the outstretched arms of the diving goalie to give the Blues a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute.
“It was a great team buildup and a great look from Max. He’s very clever and slipped that pass through and I had the easy part,” Klink said. “You couldn’t have asked for a better way to start the game.”
Viera and Klink almost connected again a few minutes later with the former delivering a crossing pass to the front of the net. However, Klink could not handle the feed and the ball bounced off his foot and out of bounds.
Herriot was impressed by Klink, who was very active and had several dangerous scoring changes. The Blues have seen six players recalled by their college teams over the past week, so the addition of Klink was timely.
“To come into this environment and play the way he did — super proud of Dan. He was really lively in certain moments,” Herriot said. “We just got confirmation that Dan will be with us for the rest of the season, so he’s been a really good bonus for us.”
Virginia midfielder Gavin Shiels scored in the 58th minute to tie the score. A throw-in followed by two good passes set up Shiels, who played the ball ahead to himself to get one-on-one with the goalie. Annapolis keeper Emigdio Tormo Lopez had come out of the net to challenge Shiels, who drove the ball past him and into the far corner.
Klink had a golden opportunity to give the lead back to the Blues a few minutes later, but his attempted header into an empty net just went wide of the post. Geho did not miss in the 67th minute as he took a perfect through pass from Rafa Machado and deftly finished into the far corner.
It was the sixth goal of the season for Geho, a Westminster resident who has been a force up front.
Dunne scored the clincher off a play created by Tyler Gabarra (Broadneck, NC State), who carried the ball into the box then chipped it into the corner to fellow defender Ricky Schissler (Curley, UMBC).
Schissler fired a pass to Geho, whose muffed shot attempt turned into a pass directly to Dunne. The Salisbury native and Boston University standout beat the fallen goalie from out front.
“We dominated the game for large parts, but did not finish some really good situations in the final third today,” Herriot said. “They get the equalizers and you’re thinking here we go. A great, great reaction from our guys and a great win.”
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