Sabrowski seals deal for Whits
Right when the foul was called, Todd Sabrowski knew the moment was his. And, oh, did he make it count!
Sabrowski scored in the fourth minute of overtime on a spectacular free kick from 23 yards out as No. 5 Whitworth rallied for a 2-1 victory over fourth-ranked Trinity in NCAA Division III sectional play Sunday at Whitworth Field.
“That’s where I always hit them from in practice,” Sabrowski said. “Yesterday, after Ali (Seyedali) hit his free kick, I said, ‘OK, you’re taking the rest of them.’ But as soon as we got that shot right there, I knew it was mine. I told him, ‘You’re not taking this one.’ “
Using the outside of his right foot, Sabrowski bent the ball around the bar and into the upper left-hand corner of the net as the Pirates earned their first berth in the Final Four.
Whitworth will take on Gustavus Adolphus (17-2-3) in a national semifinal Friday in Greensboro, N.C. Defending national champion Messiah will play Plattsburgh State in the other semifinal.
Following his goal, Sabrowski, who hadn’t scored on a free kick this season, disappeared under a crush of teammates and fans and when he finally reappeared, the Whitworth faithful were serenading the team with chants of, “Final Four! Final Four!”
“I really don’t have any words to describe it,” said Sabrowski, whose goal was his eleventh of the season. “I figured I’d better get out (from under the pile) before I got killed.”
“That strike there was unbelievable,” head coach Sean Bushey said. “That’s what he’s done all the time in training, (though) he hadn’t scored off any free kicks this season. … What a way to win it. I’m so happy for the guys.”
The heroics didn’t belong to Sabrowski alone.
Seyedali, who scored on a free kick from just outside the penalty box in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Wartburg, saw his free kick from nearly the same spot with just over a minute remaining in the first half saved onto the crossbar by Trinity goal keeper Matt Handy. Trinity then went up 1-0 in the 52nd minute when Tyrone Petrakis set up Josh Peterson for his fifth goal of the season.
But when the Tigers (19-2-1), playing their first back-to-back games of the season, seemed to tire, the Pirates started attacking in waves.
With just over nine minutes left, a pretty sequence of passing by Seyedali and Niko Varlamos sent Varlamos in on the right side. His cross was met by Chris Johnson, but his shot hit the crossbar and Skye Henderson sent the rebound over the top.
The breakthrough finally came with 7:15 left in the game. Seyedali sent the ball to Varlamos, who one-touched the ball into space on the left side of the box. Johnson took a touch and sent the ball under Handy and the Whitworth crowd into a frenzy.
“It was quite a game, wasn’t it?” Johnson said. “We just had to keep hoping. Going down a goal wasn’t fun, but we had all the determination in the world to get the job done.”