Staff photo / Dan Hiner. Poland’s Dominic Domico, center, is swarmed by his teammates after scoring the game-winning goal in overtime of a Division IV regional semifinal against Field at Ravenna High School on Wednesday.
RAVENNA — Colin McBride worked through contact and created a little room between the back touchline and the right corner.
McBride sent the ball toward the face of the net, and Dominic Domico was in perfect position.
Domico scored with 5:14 left in overtime to send the Poland boys soccer team to the regional final. The Bulldogs won 3-2 and will play Beachwood on Sunday at Bo Rein Stadium in Niles.
“Going into extra time, everybody was so confident. We were fired up,” Domico said. “On that long throw in, we were catching them off. I was waiting for it. Jacob (Hayes), it went right past him. I didn’t even look at the goal. I just shot it and it went in.
“I’m gonna be honest, I’m not a guy who scores a lot. This is an incredible feeling”
The game was scoreless when play came to a stop in the first half. Poland senior captain AJ Lisko took a hit to the head while trying to head the ball down the field. He was taken for medical attention via ambulance.
The Poland players were visibly shaken, but they continued after a lengthy delay.
Field capitalized on the restart and got on the board a little over a minute after play resumed.
Liam Waffen lined up for a free kick and Poland goalie Michael Daley got part of the ball, but it slipped past the Bulldogs keeper. Alec Grimm snuck behind the left side of the defense and tapped the loose ball in for the first score.
The Falcons capitalized on another opportunity at the 15-minute mark.
The Falcons threw the ball in, but the Poland defense got it out of the box. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, the ball went directly to Waffen around the 25-yard line. He powered a kick into the Poland net to extend the lead to 2-0.
“I thought toward the end of the first half, we started getting our footing back a little bit,” Poland coach Brian Garcar said.
Poland found its second wind at the 25-minute mark. Xander Thornton got a hold of a rebound and tapped it in to open the Bulldogs’ scoring.
Thornton came through again in the closing minutes.
A ball was partially blocked several yards in front of the net. But the Poland junior was in the right place at the right time to push the ball into the bottom-left corner, tying the game at two-apiece with 9:24 left in regulation.
“We kept trying to hunt and hunt and hunt, and every ball that bounced in the 18, we did what we could to get on it,” Garcar said. “Give (Thornton) credit, he’s coming off a sprained ankle, and he didn’t play in the last game, didn’t play in the district final. He was a big spark for us tonight.”
Momentum had swung completely in favor of the Bulldogs. They had a ball that snuck in between the frame and the crossbar, another that hit off the frame and Field almost gave them the lead on an own goal.
Poland continued to put pressure on the Falcons in the extra period. And Domico polished the regional semifinal off with his second goal of the season.
“Part of the reason we were fired up was for our friend AJ,” Domico said. “Sadly, he was injured at the beginning of the game, but I hope, watching this back, he’ll be happy. We did right by him, I hope.”
Now the Bulldogs take on Beachwood, who beat Norwayne on penalty kicks Wednesday night. Kickoff for the regional final is set for noon on Sunday.
“They have persevered through a lot of adversities and injuries,” Garcar said. “To be able to figure out a way to win and get the job done today, it’s big for our program. It’s not for this group, but it’s a significant one for our program that we can look back on.”