Like his teammates, along with the boisterous group of fans that accompanied them, Ethan Girdner was eager to finish Sallisaw’s state championship soccer game.
Finally, the clock expired in the Black Diamonds’ hard-fought 3-2 win against Oklahoma City Heritage Hall for the Class 4A title on May 15, and Girdner was among those engulfed in an inevitable wave of emotions.
“What was going through my mind was just, ‘Stop them;’ there was nothing else you could do,” said Girdner, a senior. “I think our defense played great that game. … It was just (all about) holding on for dear life. It was just like 15 years of hard work that everybody put in and it’s like, that’s what we wanted and we went and took it. It was just relief really and we fought so hard for it and it was ours.”
It was the first team state title for a Sallisaw squad since 1997. The Black Diamonds also won it all in just their fifth season as a soccer program. Another footnote to the championship was that it was Girdner’s lone season with the program. With his mother serving in the army, Girdner lived in a variety of states, from Virginia to Maryland to Washington to Arizona.
But last summer, his family moved to Sallisaw because it was the hometown of Girdner’s father. And Girdner definitely enjoyed his senior year there.
“I love Sallisaw, and it definitely became my home in just one year with all the friends and family,” he said. “Everyone that I met made me feel at home.”
Girdner, who has been playing soccer since the age of 5, also made a seamless transition to joining a Sallisaw soccer squad that was on the rise. Primarily playing striker, Girdner brought a definite offensive impact to the team, scoring 46 goals while registering 15 assists, including five goals in a win against Tulsa-based Victory Christian.
“I think we had a really close-knit team; we were all really dedicated and they’ve been training since last June, so this is what they decided they wanted and they took it,” Girdner said. “I don’t know if I was a difference-maker. I had a lot of people who would come help me and feed me the ball a lot, and it just happened that I put it in the back of the net, so that’s what counts.”
Girdner scored six goals in the Diamonds’ four playoff wins. Their last three postseason games came in a span of five days, ending the season with 18 straight wins following a season-opening loss to Van Buren.
“We definitely have a good strength coach that helps us,” Girdner said. “We do a lot of stretching and recovery, that definitely helped us and our lifting all year long. We were definitely in good enough shape to be able to do that and it was just awesome that we got that chance.”
That chance came in the title game win against Heritage Hall, a team that had won three straight championships in the past three seasons. Not to mention having the game at Oklahoma City’s Taft Stadium, a short distance from the Chargers’ campus.
Girdner and his teammates knew full well they were the underdogs, but felt if they continued to play their style of ball, a championship was in sight. Girdner was also buoyed by the big crowds that followed the Diamonds, especially during their championship run.
“By far, the best student section and fans that I have ever played for,” he said. “We had tons of fans that always came out, and it was just a great atmosphere.”
Girdner, who also served as the placekicker for Sallisaw’s football team last fall, recently graduated with a 4.0 grade-point average. He’s hoping to keep playing soccer in college, but has yet to commit to a school. For the time being, Girdner is still enjoying the fruits of Sallisaw’s championship.
“It was definitely the fans and the community and the team,” he said. “We were just such a close community in the soccer world and it was just awesome to be a part of that, to be around that and there’s no better feeling than that. … It’s my new family and it’s my new brotherhood.”
