Berkmar's Season Ends with 1-0 loss

Berkmar High School's soccer season to remember came to an end with thoughts of what could have been.

The Patriots (15-3-1), who won the Region 8-AAAAA championship, beat soccer powers Brookwood and Parkview in the same season, and played in the state playoffs for the first time in more than 20 years, have a lot to be proud of from its 2011 season. It’s just those darn missed opportunities.

In a prime example of the winning team not necessarily being the better team, Walton knocked off Berkmar 1-0 Wednesday in the second round of the Class AAAAA boys tournament in Lilburn.

The Patriots clanged at least three shots off the bar and had a goal disallowed by a controversial off-sides call in the emotional loss. To add insult to injury, Walton almost scored an own-goal for Berkmar when a defender headed the ball back toward the goal, but it glanced off the crossbar, too.

“I won’t get much sleep tonight,” Berkmar coach Tracy Crouch said. “I’ll see balls pinging off the bar all night. It’ll be a long night.”

Holden Fender scored the game’s lone goal, a low shot to the lefthand side of Berkmar goalkeeper Juan Carlos Lopez. The goal came off a nice assist from J.D. Nourachi less than nine minutes into the game.

Berkmar’s chances were numerous in the first half, and not just those shots that drew iron.

Juan Carlos Diaz missed just over the crossbar on an open goal when the ball got loose in the box after a throw-in five minutes into the game. Two minutes later, Martin Lugo’s pass to Ernesto Cardenas just missed Cardenas’ foot right in front of the goal. Six minutes after that, a Cardenas shot was cleared by a Walton defender after the Raiders’ keeper got out of position. With 25 minutes left in the half, a Berkmar header attempt off a throw-in hit the bar. At the 12-minute mark, a low cross by Lugo zipped through the box in front of the goal with no one able to put a foot on it.

Berkmar looked like it tied the game with 31 seconds left in the half when Lugo worked down the left side and slid a nifty pass to Cardenas, who finished for an apparent goal. But as the Patriots were celebrating, offside was called, even though it appeared Cardenas was onside.

Crouch said he didn’t see it as an offside but added that it wasn’t the determining factor.

Berkmar almost made up for it at the buzzer, as Lugo streaked down the left side and kicked a shot that hit the bar.

Walton, a five-time state champion, clamped down defensively in the second half. Neither team had many chances, although two hard Walton defensive plays in the penalty box had Berkmar fans screaming for a foul.

The loss closed out a season of arrival for Berkmar, a soccer after-thought in previous years. Crouch called his squad "the most skilled team" he has ever led in his 17 years as a couch.

It’s clear the attitude has changed in the program.

“In the past, we hoped to make the state playoffs, now we expect to,” Crouch said, crediting his group of 13 seniors for fostering the turnaround. “They changed the face and reputation of Berkmar soccer … that is their legacy.”