Blue Devils pull out come-from-behind win

With a flair for the dramatic, Culpeper’s soccer team pulled off the unimaginable Friday when the Blue Devils engineered a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the visiting Fauquier Falcons.

All four Culpeper goals came in the second half, including the hat trick by Carter Mills and the single by Eduar Reyes.

Mills’ third and winning goal came in the waning seconds of regulation.

“It felt awesome,” he said, “but I’m more upset that we gave up three goals in the first half. We have to stop giving up goals.”

Reyes scored the team’s other goal, Derek Orshoski had two assists, and Bram Sims assisted Mills’ winning shot.

Graham Colvin replaced Adam Mitchell in goal with five minutes remaining in the first half and then played the entire second half and recorded three saves.
Of Colvin, Mills said: “What can I say? He got the shutout (in the second half).”

Defenders, like Kyle Masson and Cole Dean, understand that their positions do not often generate a lot of publicity but their teammates noticed their contributions.
“They both played awesome but everybody had a great second half,” Mills said.

“It doesn’t matter (whether we get credit),” Masson said. “It’s a team effort and everybody understands that.”

Sims, who had missed the last four matches because of an ailing hamstring, re-entered the Blue Devil lineup last night.

“It’s nice to be back,” he said. “We wanted to win the second half. (Fauquier) fell apart (in the second half) and we kept getting goals in the second. Things just went our way.”

Culpeper head Coach Tim Kearney said before the start of last night’s match that he hoped to leave Broman Field smiling when it was over.
His wish came true thanks to a concerted second-half effort that saw the Blue Devils erase a 3-0 halftime deficit.

“Everybody seemed to step up tonight,” said Kearney. “We dug ourselves a hole in the first half but came out of it. We really earned our goals and played good team ball. And we had the right personnel in the right spots.”

Culpeper, which had been idle since their lost to Stonewall Jackson on April 17, capitalized on a solid team effort in the second half.
Colvin immediately went to work with back-to-back saves in the first two minutes.

Mills scored the first of his three goals in the 60th minute when he worked his way in front of Falcon goalie Jose Guzman. After waiting for Guzman to commit, Mills then scooted the ball past him to make it 3-1.

Two minutes later, Reyes showcased his speed and beat Guzman to pull the Blue Devils to within one goal.

Mills’ header, during the 66th minute, was stopped by Guzman but four minutes later, Orshoski found Mills for another goal to tie the match at 3-3.
The Blue Devils, who fired 10 second-half shots on goal compared to just three in the first half, continued to press the action.

Mills broke loose from the defenders and took a nice lead pass from Sims to score in the waning seconds to lift the team to victory.
From the Culpeper perspective, it was a dramatic victory. For Fauquier, it was a total collapse of fortunes.

With everything going their way in the first half, Fauquier fired 12 shots on goal and Eric Hernandez scored twice and John Adams once. In the second half, the Falcons attempted only three shots on goal.

“That’s mainly because we kept the ball in play in front of their goal,” said Kearney who felt the dismay that comes from giving up easy goals.
“Not to take anything away from them but we gave up those goals by simply misplaying the ball,” he said.

Mitchell, who recorded seven saves on the night, left the game with five minutes remaining in the first half after sacrificing his body for the cause.
While smothering a Falcon shot on goal he was kicked in the process and forced to sit out the rest of the match.

The Falcons then erupted for the first of their three goals when Hernandez, initially stopped by Mitchell, beat the Blue Devil goalie to the loose ball and scored in an empty net.

Moments later, a flurry in front of the Culpeper goal resulted in Hernandez scoring off a header to make it 2-0.

Only a minute elapsed before Adams fired a long-range shot from about 45 yards that got past Mitchell who appeared to have mistimed his jump and watched helplessly as the ball found the net.

The Blue Devils have only the weekend to savor the taste of success.

Next week, the team’s mettle will be put to the test with three road games beginning on Tuesday at Osbourn then on Wednesday at Battlefield and on Thursday at Osbourn Park.

Contact Mark O’Connell at