By Dave Yanovitz
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, November 15, 2008

With a chance to earn a first-round bye in the upcoming D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association boys' soccer playoffs, Wilson sophomore Elvin Jackson wasted little time putting his stamp on yesterday's game against visiting School Without Walls.

Jackson, Wilson's leading goal-scorer, scored three goals in the opening 29 minutes and Marcos Malina ripped home a 22-yard shot in the 74th minute to break a tie and propel Wilson to a 4-3 victory. It was the regular season finale for both teams.

With his team trailing 1-0 in the 14th minute, Jackson, a small striker with great speed, used his quickness to get behind the defense and beat goalie Joel Person to the left corner from 12 yards out. In the 25th minute, Carlos Reyes's shot was stopped by Person, but Jackson was there to knock in the rebound for a 2-1 lead.

Four minutes later, Jackson took the ball at the 25-yard mark, dribbled in and fired home his third of the game. The ball was moving quickly on a wet turf field, and Jackson's quickness was definitely a factor.

"Our midfielders came through," Jackson said. School Without Walls "came in big because they beat Roosevelt this week, but it was not gonna happen, because it's our house and we were going to get first place, not fourth place."

The six-team DCIAA playoffs begin next week; the championship game is next Saturday at RFK Auxiliary with Wilson, School Without Walls, Bell and Theodore Roosevelt considered the favorites. Roosevelt, which beat Bell, 1-0, yesterday, is the top seed. Wilson, the No. 2 seed, finished the season with two league losses, and both will get first-round byes.

Down 3-1, the Penguins didn't wilt. They scored less than a minute before halftime when senior Amit Singh's corner kick was headed in by Vic Andrade.

In the second half, School Without Walls came out the aggressor, peppering Wilson goalie Mario Diaz with shots. In the 69th minute, Singh tied the game at 3, his direct kick from just outside the box hitting the far left corner of the net.

"I was very proud of our team today. We definitely showed [Wilson] something," said Singh, a four-year varsity player. "It's a preview of things to come."

Wilson 4 School Without Walls 3 Big Scorer: Wilson's Elvin Jackson's hat trick gave him 22 goals in his first year on varsity after playing JV as a freshman. Game Goalie: Wilson starting goalie Stewart Madden was out of town, so it was left to Mario Diaz, usually a defender, to play goalie for the Tigers. He made five big saves in the second half and eight total.