Late in a tie game Friday at Churchill, Walter Johnson assistant coach Brett Pavitt implored Joe Brody to score.
“Your man is on fumes,” yelled Pavitt repeatedly. “Brody — all day. All day, Brody.”
Weather the Churchill defender was tired or not, wasn’t the point. Brody is WJ’s go-to man. In the fourth quarter of a tight game, the Wildcats always want the ball in Brody’s stick, regardless.
Sure enough, the senior delivered Friday night, scoring off a re-start in the third overtime to give the Wildcats a 9-8 victory. It was his fifth goal of the game, all in the second half.
Brody’s heroics were hardly a surprise. As a freshman, in the first playoff game of his career, he scored the winning goal to beat Churchill. The following season, in overtime of the region championship game, Brody freed himself with a nifty 1-on-1 move and drove to the crease to beat Whitman, 13-12. Last year, again in the region final, Brody scored with 3 seconds left to beat Wootton.
“I really want the ball in that situation,” said the Gettysburg-bound Brody. “I feel so comfortable in those situations. It’s second nature.”
At 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, Brody is not a physical specimen, nor particularly fast. In his career he’s used skill and determination to score 137 goals and deal 110 assists. Last year he was the only underclassman from a Montgomery County public school named All-American.
Against the Patriots, Brody might have gotten another game winner if he got the chance, but Wootton faceoff man Ricky Hafer won the draw to start overtime and passed for the winning goal.
“He’s got ice in his veins,” said coach Jim Collin. “He is one of the coolest kids under pressure. There’s no coaching there. I’d love to take credit for it. But it’s not me. It’s him.”
