Grit fueled the boys’ soccer team on their run to the FHSAA Class 2A State championship on Thursday, and in the critical moment, junior Abe Murphy showed poise on the attack as he assisted Senior Amugo Chukwunenye for the only goal of the game. With 20 minutes, 36 seconds left to play, Murphy dribbled down the right side of the penalty box and crossed a pass to leading scorer Chukwunenye, who was cutting down the middle. Chukwunenye finished the play with a banger for what turned out to be the winning goal.

“When Amugo scored we all tried to run up to him to celebrate, but he ran like lightning over to the fans,” senior Matthew Moscrip said. “I’ve never seen him so hyped up before. It was chaos.”

While the Bucaneers didn’t manage a true shot on goal, the Wildcats recorded six. Murphy, Chukwunenye, senior Nick Pekmezian and sophomore Collin Robidoux all had chances to score, but it was sophomore Cameron Yeutter who nearly sealed the deal in the second half when he beat the Bucs goalkeeper Andrew Koch to the ball and headed it toward the goal until a sliding defender saved it.

“It was an awesome effort from the guys, Berkeley had a lot of pressure in the first half but our defense held strong and we were able to counter in the second half,” sophomore Chase Hester said.

Moscrip said the Wildcats had built patience into their game plan.

“We knew going into the game that if we could survive their initial high pressure, they would get tired out and we could hit them on the counter in the second half,” he said. “I knew our defense was strong enough to where, if we got one goal we could feed off the crowd’s energy for the rest of the game.”

The victory marked the second time in five year the Wildcats edged the Buccaneers for a state championship. In 2012, John Bosinsky scored in double-overtime secure the title.