CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- If high school is about learning who you are, the players on the George Washington boys soccer team are picking up extra credit.
From their view at the top of the high school soccer hill last year to some tough times already this season, the Patriots have found out a lot about themselves.
Wednesday night they faced another severe gut check and found what they needed to pull out a 2-1 win over rival Charleston Catholic in front of about 200 fans at Schoenbaum Soccer Stadium in Coonskin Park.
"It's a huge win for us," said George Washington senior Chris Power.
"We just came together as a team."
Coming into Wednesday's contest, the Patriots had already lost last season's leading scorer, Jake Stevens, to a season-ending ACL tear.
Tuesday they had lost for the first time as the defending state champions when they dropped an emotional 2-1 decision to Capital when the Cougars scored in the closing minutes.
Then, the Patriots fell behind 1-0 when Irish senior Ethan Nelson scored off of a sharp pass from junior Tristan Ritchie early Wednesday.
Adding more injury to insult, George Washington star midfielder Zack Claudio went down with a knee injury with 7:46 to play in the first half and had to be carried off the field.
Claudio left the field in the second half and was headed to the hospital for an MRI on his left knee.
"We're struggling to put healthy bodies on the field," said veteran George Washington Coach Tom Hopper.
"We were already making some changes because of Jake so we just had to keep putting bodies in different spots."
When Claudio went down, the George Washington players huddled up and reached a decision.
Basically they were going to take the lemons they had been handed and make lemonade.
"We just sort of told each other that this will show what we are made of," said Power. "We really didn't design anything, we just said 'win the ball' and we did."
With that determination apparent when play resumed, the Patriots won the ball off of a goal kick and Power took over.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- If high school is about learning who you are, the players on the George Washington boys soccer team are picking up extra credit.
From their view at the top of the high school soccer hill last year to some tough times already this season, the Patriots have found out a lot about themselves.
Wednesday night they faced another severe gut check and found what they needed to pull out a 2-1 win over rival Charleston Catholic in front of about 200 fans at Schoenbaum Soccer Stadium in Coonskin Park.
"It's a huge win for us," said George Washington senior Chris Power.
"We just came together as a team."
Coming into Wednesday's contest, the Patriots had already lost last season's leading scorer, Jake Stevens, to a season-ending ACL tear.
Tuesday they had lost for the first time as the defending state champions when they dropped an emotional 2-1 decision to Capital when the Cougars scored in the closing minutes.
Then, the Patriots fell behind 1-0 when Irish senior Ethan Nelson scored off of a sharp pass from junior Tristan Ritchie early Wednesday.
Adding more injury to insult, George Washington star midfielder Zack Claudio went down with a knee injury with 7:46 to play in the first half and had to be carried off the field.
Claudio left the field in the second half and was headed to the hospital for an MRI on his left knee.
"We're struggling to put healthy bodies on the field," said veteran George Washington Coach Tom Hopper.
"We were already making some changes because of Jake so we just had to keep putting bodies in different spots."
When Claudio went down, the George Washington players huddled up and reached a decision.
Basically they were going to take the lemons they had been handed and make lemonade.
"We just sort of told each other that this will show what we are made of," said Power. "We really didn't design anything, we just said 'win the ball' and we did."
With that determination apparent when play resumed, the Patriots won the ball off of a goal kick and Power took over.
"I got it on my foot, saw an opening, and did what the coaches told me to do," he said. "Shoot the ball."
A mere 14 seconds after the season had reached its low point when Claudio went down, the Patriots (4-1) had tied the game they now felt they had to win.
"There was a little momentum shift," said Catholic Coach Keith Hutcheson. "We started off well and they finished off well in the first half."
Play was basically even in the second half until Power's determination resulted in what proved to be the game-winning play.
With the clock ticking down inside the final five minutes and a tie seeming almost inevitable, Power made a drive from the left side into the box.
He was tackled hard as he drove to his left side and toward the top of the box and the referee called a foul with 4:08 remaining.
At that point the Patriots had to stop and think for a moment.
"Zack (Claudio) usually takes the penalty kicks," said Power.
Hopper also hesitated momentarily but did not have to worry as his players had made the decision for him.
"Pretty much it was my teammates told me to take it," said Power. "I hate penalty kicks."
But with Stevens and Claudio unavailable, he did what has become the slogan for this year's George Washington team -- he did what he had to do.
Power calmly buried a solid shot into the left side of the net and the Patriot players and faithful erupted.
"Power had a great game," said Hopper. "The guys said "OK, we're going to pull it together' and they sure did step it up."
George Washington keeper Connell Green stopped seven shots, while Christian Gerencir saved eight for the Irish (2-3).
Hopper hopes to find out the extent of Claudio's injury by the team's next practice but he already knows what his general strategy is for this season.
"We'll continue to put the Band-Aid on it and see what we can do," he said.
