Suffolk News-Herald

Some said it had been since 1996.

Some say it was the first time Nansemond-Suffolk Academy had ever defeated Hampton Roads Academy in boys soccer.

Either way, NSA’s team has come an extremely long way and it was fully proven Thursday afternoon at NSA as the Saints (7-1-0, 2-0-0) defeated HRA 2-0, avenging the loss the Navigators gave them on Sept. 10.

The scoring opened in the 26th minute through TCIS leading scorer Patrick Whelan.

A sliding tackle by Daniel Curran on an attempted clearance by a Navigator defender deflected the ball toward the HRA net.

Whelan was first to the ball.

Dribbling a couple steps into the box, Whelan then struck a hard right-footed shot past the diving keeper into the upper right corner of the net.

The Saints doubled their lead three minutes out of halftime.

Taylor entered the attacking third and spread the ball out to his right, finding Ben Trujillo.

Trujillo was momentarily stripped of the ball, but he stayed with it, winning it back inside the box.

A defender deflected Trujillo’s initial shot from about 15 yards out, but the deflection went to Whelan.

Whelan controlled the rebound, just left of center to goal, and then shot past the out-of-position keeper.

For the match, Vidarte made six saves for the shutout.

HRA held a 9-5 advantage on corner kicks, and shots were 17-16 in NSA’s favor.

&uot;We knew we could compete against this team and attack them,&uot; head coach Francisco Sanin of the earlier loss. Sanin said he told the team, &uot;we are 11, and they are 11.&uot;

&uot;I know we haven’t beaten them since I’ve been here, since I was a freshman,&uot; said Vidarte, a senior.

Looking ahead to a stretch of road games, Vidarte continued, &uot;This was a win we needed before we go on the road.&uot;

NSA takes on top-ranked Norfolk Academy in Norfolk next Tuesday.

Nansemond-Suffolk’s girls’ volleyball team rolled their winning streak to four games and opened up TCIS play with a sweep over visiting Hampton Roads Academy (25-13, 25-14, 27-25).

The Lady Saints (5-5, 1-0) began the match strongly, taking a 5-3 lead and turning it into an 11-3 advantage on Ellen Giermak’s serving, which included four aces during the 6-0 run.

Lengthening their lead, NSA won seven of the last eight points to close out game one.

The second game followed a similar pattern.

NSA jumped out to 6-0 lead on Kristen Nuckles’ serve.

The Lady Saints continued to easily lead throughout the rest of game two.

Michelle Boucher, Parris Grieder and Giermak each recorded three kills during game two.

Perhaps feeling the first two games were too straightforward, the Lady Saints decided to give the fans a bit more excitement in the final game.

After getting out to a 10-1 lead, which included three aces from Nuckles and three kills from Giermak, HRA rallied back, finally tying the game at 20.

The Navigators continued battling, and earned a game point at 24-23. A Minka Foster kill tied the game at 24.

HRA won the ensuing point, getting another game point chance.

This time, Giermak fought off the game point with a kill from the back row.

From 25-25, Foster served out the last two points, one with an ace, and one with the last of Giermak’s ten kills.

&uot;We kept our heads and did not get nervous.&uot;

Boucher said of the last game.

&uot;We did not get tentative,&uot; said head coach Shane Foster. &uot;The last three points were all good solid attacks.&uot;

The Lady Saints continue in the TCIS on Tuesday at Norfolk Academy.

The Saints came up on the wrong side of a see-saw battle Thursday, falling 25-15, 13-25, 25-11, 17-25, 15-8 to host Trinity Epsicopal. Bryan Kitz had 11 kills for the Saints, and Matt Hamlet had seven kills, six aces, and seven assists. The Saints head to Peninsula Catholic on Monday.