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Riverbend's Joanna Debrouse gets to the ball before Cave Spring's Liz Wilson during yesterday's semifinal.
Riverbend's Kirsty Meyer gets caught |
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
RADFORD--Cave Spring High School girls soccer coach Esteban Martinez looked as if he'd just been hit by a truck.
His Knights were in a scoreless tie with Riverbend at halftime of yesterday's Group AA state semifinal at Radford University.
But in a span of 17 minutes, Martinez's team was completely ripped apart.
In impressive fashion, Riverbend scored five quick goals to dust off the Knights 5-0 and reach its first state title game in any sport in the school's three-year history.
The Bears (22-0) will face Spotsylvania County and Battlefield District rival Courtland--a 5-4 winner over Hidden Valley yesterday--today at 10 a.m. for the state championship.
"It's amazing--five goals in 17 minutes," Martinez said. "Completely unexpected. We never saw them coming. We felt good. We were even with them at the half. I'm still in a state of shock. It's not a good way to end the season, that's for sure."
It's certainly a good way for the Bears to move on.
Riverbend put to rest the bad memories associated with its blown lead and eventual loss to Charlottesville in last year's semifinals.
The Bears are now looking forward to facing a Courtland team they've beaten four times already this season.
In the last meeting, Riverbend earned the Region I title with a 3-2 victory.
"It's getting harder and harder to beat them," Bears head coach Becca Berry said of the Cougars.
Yesterday, Riverbend was late getting started.
But when the Bears got rolling, the Knights (14-5-1) couldn't stop them.
Carly Sullivan notched Riverbend's first tally in the 48th minute off an assist from Bailey Wilcox.
"After we scored that first goal, I was like, 'We got this,'" Bears senior defender Jackie Rodriguez said.
Sullivan said after Wilcox "flicked the ball" with her head, she placed her body between the ball and a Cave Spring defender. Sullivan then managed to drill the ball past Knights freshman goalkeeper Lauren Markey.
Just a minute earlier, Berry said Sullivan was challenged to stop being "lazy."
"She got all mad, and on the next play, she scored," Berry said. "When she gets mad and she puts her mind to it, she does some amazing things."
It took just three minutes for the onslaught to continue after Sullivan's goal.
Freshman Casey Ridings made up for an earlier weak attempt at a goal with a splendid lob kick that reached the right corner of the net, just past Markey to make it 2-0, Riverbend.
That's when Martinez became alarmed.
"After the first one, I thought, 'Things like that are going to happen in a game, but we always fight back,'" Martinez said. "But when the second goal came, and the way it happened, that's when I was concerned."
He had every right to be because the Bears weren't done.
Wilcox scored on a play in which she carried the ball with her head into the net to make it 3-0.
Minutes later, Bears sophomore midfielder Meredyth Frye had back-to-back assists on goals scored by Kirsty Meyer and Nikki Beer to put an exclamation mark on the dominant win.
"They say we're a second-half team," Bears senior goalkeeper Kelsey Dowling said. "So we just came out and played our game."
Bears players said staying true to what got them this far should be enough to earn the state title today. But with a Courtland team that's extremely familiar with them, it won't be easy.
The Cougars, along with every other Battlefield team, have never beaten Riverbend but they tied the Bears in 2005.
"Courtland has been our toughest opponent in districts, regions and now up to states," Rodriguez said. "They think [today] is going to be the game they beat us, but no. We want it bad."
Taft Coghill Jr.: 540/374-5526
