HAMMOND | Everytime Times No. 4 Andrean gained an advantage in the Bishop Noll boys soccer sectional final against No. 10 Marquette Catholic, Ambrose Haas had an answer.
The 59ers scored in the 45th minute. Haas scored in the 47th. Andrean scored in the 57th. Haas evened it up in the 70th with a goal that sent the game to overtime.
The junior midfielder stuck in the final dagger with his game-winning penalty kick to give the Blazers a 4-2 PK advantage and the sectional title.
"That entire game felt like it was a dream. It didn't feel real," Haas said. "It felt like all the hard work I put in in the last year after losing sectionals (last season), it finally paid off."
The first time Haas took the decisive penalty kick, Andrean keeper Michael Croux stopped it. But Croux was ruled to have made a move forward and Haas got another chance.
"My heart stopped a little bit (when Croux made the save)," Haas said. "But you have to sit down and just do it again."
The 59ers (13-2-3) kept the pressure on throughout the first half, but failed to tally a goal. Andrean held an 11-2 shot advantage and had taken four corner kicks while the Blazers (15-3) had none at the break.
"We had chances early on in the first half and we didn't convert," Andrean coach Pete Reist said. "We left guys open on two free kicks and that's how (the Blazers) got their goals. We just didn't mark up very well."
Aaron Corder scored both goals for the 59ers.
"We didn't expect to concede any goals. We were hoping for a 1-0 win, hit them on a counter-attack," Blazers coach Matt Fletcher said. "They came out and scored and we had to make some adjustments, but all game long we just responded with the hearts of champions. It's amazing."
The match was a physical one. Yellow cards were issued to Andrean's Evan Fogle and Jake Berwanger and Marquette's Patrick Cannon in the first 20 minutes.
Andrean's Thomas Cappas was given a red card just before the end of regulation. The 59ers bench was given a yellow during the discussion of Cappas' penalty.
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