Story and Photos by Brennan Waldorf —
The Nandua Warriors hosted the Graham G-Men, from Bluefield, Va., June 23, in the Division II Boys Soccer State Championship in Onley. The Warriors wrote their names in the school’s history books by beating Graham 6-1 in front of a large home crowd. Nandua dominated through both halves, racking up 33 shots on goal compared to the G-Men’s seven.
Scoring opened when Graham’s Benjamin Morgan had a solo goal just four minutes into the game, but it proved to be Graham’s only goal. Nandua defenders quickly put Morgan on high priority, shutting the quick forward down the rest of the game.
Bryan Tinoco was first to score for the Warriors on a solo goal at the 31- minute mark. Odin Bolster then followed with two goals, his first one assisted by Leo Bonilla shortly after Tinoco’s to give Nandua its first lead at the 29-minute mark. Odin Bolster then hit a solo goal at 8:32 from the left side giving Nandua a 3-1 lead, which they kept until the close of the half.
The second half saw a barrage of shots by Nandua as the Warriors poured in 17 compared to Graham’s three shots. Despite the G-Men’s 11 saves, Nandua still put three more scores on the board and shut out the G-Men in the second.
Bolster assisted on Hoslerson Joseph at the 33-minute mark and followed it later with a solo goal at the 8:39 mark. Joseph chipped in the last goal at the six-minute mark on a Jonathan Ramirez assist to clinch the game.
Injuries piled up on both sides throughout the game, including Graham’s starting goalie Nicholas Knowles having to leave the game with 15 minutes left. Nandua’s Clarvens Derizard was injured at the end of the first quarter and did not return. He scored in the first but the goal was called off due to an offsides call.
Nandua and Graham adjusted to the injuries accordingly, but it was Nandua that came out on top completing a perfect season 13-0 and becoming the 2021 Division II state soccer champs.
