Fabian’s hot foot foils Fairfield on cold day

FAIRFIELD — On a cold and snowy day at Fairfield High School, somebody needed to find a hot foot.

Fairfield and Washington were tied 1-1 with under five minutes to go in double overtime, when Demon junior Fabian DeJesus stepped up to kick the game-winner, giving Washington a big 2-1 win over the eighth-ranked Trojans.

DeJesus’ goal came on a rush from the left side. He launched a deep shot from the sideline, one that just sneaked in between the crossbar and the finger tips of Trojan goalkeeper Kyle Schubick.

“It was crazy just seeing that ball go through,” DeJesus said. “Lately I’ve been watching videos of game-winning goals, and that felt like one of them.”

DeJesus’ golden boot was the first goal since midway through the first half. The Demons took an early lead on a deep goal by Zac Stout, but Fairfield’s Xavier Kapijimpanga knotted things up with 18:18 remaining in the opening period.

Both the Trojans and Demons had plenty of chances to go up 2-1 in the second half. Fairfield had perhaps the biggest when Kapijimpanga burst past the Demon defenders to earn a 1-on-1 with Washington goalkeeper Cole Anderson with 25:35 remaining in regulation. Anderson made an incredible save to keep the game tied, one of his 11 on the night.

“He’s been tremendous,” said Washington head coach Sally Hart. “You could tell from the first day in open gym that he wanted to win.”

It was Fairfield’s second Southeast Conference loss in a row. The Trojans climbed to No. 8 in the Class 2A soccer rankings after a 3-0 start, but now have lost back-to-back 2-1 games against Fort Madison and Washington.

“We had so many chances, and we didn’t take advantage of them,” said Fairfield head coach Felisto Guezimane. “All those chances we missed came back to bite us.”

Washington is now 4-1 overall and 3-1 in conference play, pitting them one game behind Fort Madison at the top of the SEC standings. Fairfield falls to 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the conference.