HURRICANE - Hurricane is finding out what makes it tick this week.

Seniors Alex White and Felipe Thompson scored a goal apiece in the second half as the undefeated and top-ranked Redskins posted their second straight come-from-behind victory in the last three days, a 2-1 decision Thursday night over visiting George Washington. A crowd of about 200 attended the Class AAA matchup of state-ranked teams.

Daniel Glines scored off an assist from Noah Miller less than four minutes into the game to give the Patriots (6-3-1, No. 7 in the state coaches association rankings) a 1-0 lead. Miller sent a pass across the face of the goal line and Glines was there to get a foot on the ball.

That stood up for the rest of the opening half, but the No. 1 Redskins (9-0) were on the attack in the second half. White netted a goal off a deflection in front of the net to knot the game at 1-all with 23:06 remaining in the game.

Hurricane's South American connection of exchange students combined to give the Redskins the lead for good when Thompson of Chile tallied off a pass from Brazil's Rodrigo Bevaqua with 7:02 to go. White sent a shot off the right post and Bevaqua flicked a pass to Thompson near the left post for the winning score.

The Redskins trailed 1-0 at No. 11 South Charleston on Tuesday before rallying for a 3-2 victory in the second half. Those were the first two goals Hurricane had allowed this season. Hurricane then fell behind 1-0 to GW on Thursday before another late rally. And it won't get any easier for the Redskins, who will host AA No. 3 Fairmont Senior on Saturday.

"We knew that this was a difficult week for us without question,'' said Hurricane coach Jim Dagostine. "It's been good for us. We needed a little negativity.

"I'm not so sure I wanted so much. I'm proud of the guys. They've stayed in there and battled. You either have two choices and you want to see what your team's going to do, and ours has responded the right way."

Hurricane's defense clamped down on the Patriots the entire second half Thursday, only allowing them two shots on goal, and neither was struck very hard. Redskins junior keeper Brady Lawman made two stops. Patriots keeper Garrett Phillips also turned in two saves.

"The second half we played really hard,'' said White. "It says we're not going to quit. We're always here for a good game. We know we can score and come back. We have the potential to score any time.'' 

The victory was also a measure of revenge for the Redskins, who lost to GW in last year's state semifinals. The Patriots went on to capture their second AAA state championship.

"It's just another game, but we do love to come and play them,'' said White of facing GW. "They're one of the best teams in the state easily."

GW is still a work in progress after graduating seven starters from last season's title team, but the Patriots are improving faster than most anticipated. 

"We got sloppy,'' said GW coach Tom Hopper of giving up two second-half goals to Hurricane. "We left way too much space to counter. This team is a bunch of juniors and they're learning how to play with each other. They're way ahead of where anyone expected them to be.''

Reach Tommy R. Atkinson at tatkin...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-4811.