Jefferson midfielder Andrew Dunfee sat clutching the Group AAA state championship trophy, still in awe that the gleaming piece of hardware actually belonged to his soccer team.
He held onto it for as long as he could. Then watched a couple of teammates take the trophy away for yet another round of celebratory photos after Saturday afternoon’s 1-0 state title victory over Osbourn Park at Christopher Newport University. Would the celebration continue into the night?
“No, I think I’m going to go study,” Dunfee said with a wry smile. “We have a big math final on Tuesday. Soccer is the furthest thing from my mind right now.”
Dunfee was kidding, of course. But such is life at Jefferson, the science and technology magnet school with a lofty academic reputation and the intentionally ironic bumper sticker: “We came for the sports.”
But, for a few hours at least, finals really would take a backseat as the Colonials celebrated an unimaginable run to a state championship, the school’s first in any team sport with no individual competition like swimming, cross country or track.
“None of us will ever forget this,” said junior defender Will Beckman, the lanky center back who found himself in the middle of a furious offensive charge by top-ranked Osbourn Park in the final minutes.
There were plenty of heroes to go around, Beckman included. The most obvious was senior forward Harry Beddo (Washington University), who scored the game’s only goal in the 51st minute. It was the 19th of the season for Beddo, a converted defender who had never played forward before this season. He took two touches on a pass in front of the goal, spun, and shot so hard from 18 yards out that his shin guard flew off as the ball flew past the keeper.
“One of our problems last year was we didn’t have any scoring threats. We had to change things up and Harry had those kind of skills,” said senior forward Conor Russamanno. “But he can do everything. A lot of times we’ll play him up front until he scores and then put him back on defense.”
Then there was Justin Johnson, the unheralded senior midfielder and captain whose absence last season with an ACL tear was a big reason the Colonials finished with just five wins. He led theJefferson in assists and was a force in midfield against OP on Saturday.
“We knew they hadn’t given up a goal the entire postseason, We knew before almost every game late in the playoffs that we were the underdog,” said Beddo. “But that also meant we had nothing to lose. This is amazing.”
State champs
» Jefferson started the season 4-1-5 before winning its final 13 games, including Liberty District, Northern Region and Group AAA state championship games. TJ finished 17-1-5.
» Part of the Colonials’ success was its deep bench. Jefferson played 18 different players during Saturday’s state final win against Osbourn Park.
» Jefferson coach Sean Burke also led W.T. Woodson’s girls soccer team to the 2004 Group AAA state title.
