Just short: Hilton Head Christian boys soccer falls in overtime of state championship

The Hilton Head Christian Academy boys soccer team threw shot after shot, each seeming like the one that would finally break through in Saturday’s SCISA Class 2A state title game.

But soccer is a fickle sport, and all the chances produced only a single goal through more than 105 minutes of play at Heathwood Hall. That left the door open for Oakbrook Prep to deliver a miraculous moment.

Knights forward Jonah Biggar told his coaches he had 2 minutes of play in him, three weeks removed from tearing his meniscus. He raced into a tie game in the golden goal portion of overtime, took an assist from his brother Nzuhri and gave his team the 2-1 win in the fourth consecutive title game meeting between the teams.

“The group of seniors we had, I don’t know if we’ll have a group like we did again,” Hilton Head Academy coach Matt O’Shaughnessy said. “A bunch of football players, state champions, athletes. They compete. It sucks for them. I feel for them.”

The Eagles (7-3-2) were battling from behind from the start. Oakbrook’s Steiger fired in a strike less than two minutes into the game.

Through the first and most of the second half, the Eagles got far and aways the lion’s share of the shots and chances (unofficially, HHCA had a 14-4 edge in shots on goal). But O’Shaughnessy’s team could only score once, a Cameron Stickland goal on a rebound of a free kick from Logan Harsta, which came with 25 minutes to go in regulation.

“They had athletes everywhere,” Will Welborn said. “They won most of the second balls for about 20 minutes. We just made plays.”

But the Eagles couldn’t convert again, and Biggar delivered his heroics.

“It means everything,” Jonah Biggar said. “I’m supposed to have surgery next week, and I just didn’t care. Just played.”

This is the fourth meeting between the teams in the past four state title games. Hilton Head Cristian won in 2017 and 2018, with Oakbrook winning in 2019 and this spring. Hilton Head Christian had been looking to add another state title to a year that featured wins from football, boys golf, girls basketball and girls soccer, which won earlier in the afternoon.

And even while losing a set of seniors that included more than a few football players, O’Shaughnessy, a first-year coach, sounded confident in what comes next.

“I have all the intent in the world to be back here consistently,” O’Shaughnessy said. “I’m excited about what we’ve started.”