By Spencer DuPuis
LoCoSports Staff Writer
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Leesburg (May 27, 2016) — When the boys soccer teams from Park View High School and Heritage High School met on Tuesday, May 24, there was one thing on their minds and that was claiming the Conference 21B title game and a bye in the first round of the VHSL 4A West region tournament.

In the 75th-minute, Park View junior forward Odulio Funez netted what became the game winner and conference tournament clincher in a 3-1 win for the Patriots on Tuesday, May 24.

“[This is] our second time winning [the conference tournament],” Funez said. “Honestly all of this is because of the team, we work together every day. Staying together has been the key for us all this season.”

In the 36th-minute, Park View sophomore Rember Garcia — who put up five goals in their matchup in last year’s conference tournament — struck first and sent the team and fans into a frenzy heading into halftime.

“It was a big-time lead for us [heading into half],” Park View head coach Arturo Jimenez said.

In the 54th-minute, Heritage senior Nick Scola silenced the Park View crowd with a goal to tie the game at 1-1 with a lot of time still left for the Pride to get another.

“After they tied it up, we still played the same game,” Jimenez said. “We didn’t get away from just kicking, we kept knocking the ball around.”

In the 76th-minute, Park View senior German Gonzalez added a goal to put the game out of reach for the Pride — sealing the win in the conference title game and a bye in the first round of the region tournament for the Patriots.

“It feels real good to win the conference because they beat us twice during the regular season,” Jimenez said. “Today, it was a little tough for us since we played last night. We wanted to keep control of the ball [late in the game].”

With the loss, the Pride fail to claim the conference tournament title, but still get a chance to play in the region as they were the conference regular season winner.

“Park View has been our nemesis getting through [in the playoffs],” Heritage head coach Betsy Munson said. “Fortunately, we’ve already pushed through. We will make our corrections from tonight and get ready for the matchup with another No. 2 seed on Friday.”

Park View gets a bye in the first round of the VHSL 4A West region tournament and will play Conference 22 No. 2 Fauquier on Monday, May 30 in Sterling at 7 p.m, while Heritage will play Conference 21A No. 2 Harrisonburg in the first round on Friday, May 27 in Leesburg at 7 p.m.

Scoring:
36’ PV Rember Garcia
54’ H Nick Scola
75’ PV Obdulio Funez
76’ PV German Gonzalez