Photo Gallery

The Potomac School overcame a halftime deficit to defeat Georgetown Day 2-1 in overtime in the MAC semifinal round Thursday afternoon in McLean. The Panthers advance to the league championship game on Sunday against top-ranked Sidwell Friends.

“We’re excited for the boys. They’ve had a good season and going to the championship game is a great way to finish,” said head coach Marcelo Valencia after the game.

Both teams remained scoreless until the final minutes of the first half, although the Panthers had an edge in time of possession. After Georgetown Day junior Ben Joseph was knocked over in front of the Potomac School’s net, senior midfielder Josh Shuman scored on the set piece with a hard shot into the upper left corner.

“We were pretty upset [at halftime], and we were telling them to enjoy their lead because it wouldn’t last,” said senior Matias Rodlauer.

The Panthers came out in the second half with renewed intensity and controlled the ball well for the remainder of the match. Georgetown Day’s sophomore keeper Alex Dockser had several great saves, and for the most part responded well to the continuous pressure put on him by the Panthers’ attacks.

Around the midpoint of the half, junior Hugh Danilack of the Potomac School had a free kick in front of Georgetown Day’s net, but the ball was sent out of bounds to set up a corner kick. The Panthers evened the score when the corner by senior Andrew Jones was headed around and ultimately sent into the net by junior Zack Barsness.

It looked as though the Panthers might score again a few moments later when Danilack and senior Felipe Toso had a nice passing sequence down the field, but Dockser dove and tipped the ball wide with his fingertips.

Georgetown Day had a couple of drives and a few opportunities, including a set piece shot by sophomore Aaron Gottesman in the final minutes of regular time. However, the Panthers’ defense, led by Toso, prevented the ball from ever seriously threatening senior keeper David Freemyer.

The Panthers dominated possession in overtime as they had throughout the second half, and within a few minutes Danilack had broken away from the Georgetown Day defense and had a clear shot, which Dockser managed to deflect at the last second. The match was ended a minute later when a corner by Danilack was headed in by Rodlauer.

“It was a pretty disappointing finish for us,” said senior captain William Dean of Georgetown Day after the game. “We came through a lot this season, and we lost to a great team.”

Valencia said his team wasn’t discouraged when they were down at halftime, adding, “We told the kids it was a matter of time. We had complete control of the ball in terms of possession and it was just a matter of finding the gaps and putting it in.”

The Panthers played Sidwell Friends twice during the regular season, which resulted in a loss and a tie for the Panthers. Sidwell Friends has only one loss this year and no losses in league play.

“We’re a little nervous, since they shut us out once, but we know we can beat them,” said senior captain Bennett Varney.