BY RYAN METZ
Times Correspondent
CROWN POINT | It was unclear before the season if Haji Mammadov would make Valparaiso's boys soccer team. The senior traveled to his native Azerbaijan to visit his family in the summer and gave up the opportunity to workout with his teammates.
After returning to Valpo, Mammadov passed the fitness tests -- which consisted of 5-, 4- and one-mile sprints, and 40-yard dashes -- required for all the Vikings, and the energetic forward earned his jersey.
Mammadov made the most of his first start on Wednesday as he scored the first goal in the ninth minute -- got a yellow card for excessive celebration -- and then helped his Times No. 4 Vikings handle No. 9 Crown Point 4-0.
"I felt like the curse has been broken, so I was pretty happy to score," Mammadov said. "I was one of the last people to make the team, so as you can tell I was pretty happy."
With 14 seniors on the Valpo roster, coach Danny Jeftich had a tall order in narrowing down his roster, but feels pretty justified keeping Mammadov.
"He made the best out of it," Jeftich said. "He's the kind of kid who brings energy, and so scoring was a highlight for him. He's an emotional leader and I like his attitude."
Valpo (6-1-2) got two goals from senior Ben Wallace and keeper A.J. Ratajec made four saves.
"Coach gave us a pep talk and told us to put these guys away," Wallace said. "We had always kept it close (with C.P. in the past) and we needed to be relentless."
Crown Point (4-5-2) found it difficult to match the Vikings' depth.
"They're a great group -- they're deep, they're tall, they're big -- and they played a great game," C.P. coach J.R. Rosenbaum said. "They pressured us all over the field, and our guys just weren't ready for it."
Published in the Northwest Indiana Times on Sept. 17, 2009.
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