BOYS SOCCER: Giants going to Group AA tournament

LYNCHBURG - In what was a back-and-forth, wild-and-crazy night at City Stadium, Waynesboro's Jeffrey Placide netted the game-winning goal against Turner Ashby with 3:07 left to play, giving the Little Giants a thrilling 2-1 victory.

After Sawyer Janes' free kick with 6:55 left to play was knocked over the net by Knights goalie Chris Pence, Janes' next attempt was blocked in front by a Turner Ashby defender and looked like it would bounce away without any damage. However, Placide found himself with the ball and a wide-open net, and he knew what to do with it, sending it into the left corner.

"Man, I feel so good right now. My eyes got so huge. I had to finish it," Placide said.

The first half ended with Waynesboro on top 1-0 thanks to freshman Matthew Farrington's goal with 12:03 left to play in the period. At the start of the second half, the game was suspended for 30 minutes because of lightning strikes in the Lynchburg area. The starting time had already been delayed due to the preceding game between Harrisonburg and E.C. Glass, which went to double overtime. It took longer than expected, but Waynesboro coach Bill Meicke was certainly pleased with the outcome.

"Turner Ashby put an awful lot of pressure on us, they really played a great game but it just wasn't their day. They had so many opportunities and we just got lucky. I feel very fortunate," Meicke said.

With Waynesboro clinging to its 1-0 lead, Turner Ashby's leading scorer Robbie Blackwell got the Knights on the board with 9:20 left to go in the second half, sending home a penalty kick past Little Giants goalie Jose Cruz after a Waynesboro foul in the box. Cruz had made clutch save after clutch save up until that point, but he couldn't stop Blackwell's 38th goal of the year, as the senior dove left and missed as Blackwell kicked it straight on, tying the game at 1-1.

That set the stage for Placide's heroics, which sends the Little Giants into the Region III championship and gets them a spot in the Group AA tournament.

"I just do what coach tells me to do which is pass it in the goal," Placide said. "If I didn't finish it, the team would have been down."