Smith sets up a big victory for JF

By Ted Allen

Published: April 22, 2008

In soccer, unless you’re the goalkeeper, it’s illegal to touch the ball with your hands in the field of play.
But Jefferson Forest senior defender Jordan Smith exploited a loophole to that rule in Tuesday night’s Seminole District game at Heritage — out-of-bounds restarts.
Smith assisted three goals off of throw-ins from the left wing, including two in the final two minutes, to provide the difference in the 5-2 victory.
“We got three of them off set pieces like that,” said Smith. “On a big field, you look for people close to the goal who can flick the ball in. When (defenders) don’t know who you’re throwing it to, that makes it even more dangerous and more effective.”
David Rochow capitalized on two of Smith’s entry passes, redirecting a header by Ian Case with a header of his own to finish it into the upper left corner. That extended JF’s lead to 2-0 five minutes before halftime.
Heritage (6-3-2, 4-3 Seminole) pulled within 3-2 with 10 1/2 minutes to go on a breakaway score by Josh Landis, set up by a sliding steal by Taylor Smith and a through-pass assist from Josh Knight. But with two minutes left, Rochow barely got his head on another throw-in assist from Smith, punching it into the right side of the net for a 4-2 advantage.
“I just saw it in the six (-yard box) and tried to get a head on it before it went by,” Rochow said. “It had some pace on it. Anytime we can put a ball in the six and I’m there, I do whatever I can to try to put it in the goal.”
One minute later, Blake Hubbard put the game away with a point-blank score off a Smith heave to the back post.
“Forest is always a tough team,” Heritage coach Tom Marshall said. “You’ve got to bring your best game, and if you make mistakes, they’re going to make you pay for it. Right there toward the end, we lost focus and we failed to mark on those long throw-ins and gave up the two goals.”
The game was much more closely contested than the teams’ district-opener, a lopsided loss at Forest (7-2, 6-0).
“It’s always competitive here on their home court,” Rochow said.
“It was a tough battle,” fellow Forest midfielder David Jackson added, though he and his teammates like playing on the FieldTurf. “It makes it smoother and quicker and it plays to our game.”
Trailing 2-0, the Pioneers struck quickly at the start of the second half when Stefan Phelps took a feed from Isaac Choi in the middle of the field, turned and curved a 30-yard shot inside the left post past JF diving goalkeeper Scott Zaring (six saves).
Jackson, who assisted JF’s first goal with a through pass to Timothy Bullock in the left of the box, netted its third after Bullock had a point-blank shot smothered by Heritage goalkeeper Austin Walker (14 saves). Jackson got the rebound, made a quick move to the left and rifled a left-footed shot past Walker inside the right post.
Heritage threatened to tie the game late, when Phelps blasted a shot set up by a corner-kick cross from Jake Haskins off the football field goal crossbar above the soccer cage. Stephen Bracamonte’s follow found the net, but the ball was out of bounds.
Each time the game got close, the Cavaliers regained control.
“We knew we could come back,” Smith said. “We’re JF. We are working together, all going toward the same goal and we are helping each other out to achieve it. We’ve just got to believe.”