Girl's Soccer: Pioneers 2, Wood 0

May 25, 2012
By JERRY HOLSWORTH
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — There were a lot of firsts in Northwestern District girls’ soccer when Millbrook and James Wood squared off for the district tournament championship at Millbrook High School on Thursday.

It the first time in memory that a girls’ championship game had been played on two different days at two different locations.

Thanks to lightning at Skyline on Tuesday that halted play with 29:44 remaining in the second half of a scoreless contest, the two teams were forced to finish the game at Millbrook, and it was the Pioneers who were victorious 2-0, marking the first time in school history that Millbrook (13-3-1) has won both the regular season and the district tournament championship.

The Pioneers will host Loudoun County at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

“This was a very strange situation,” Pioneer coach Carter Smith said. “I’ve never been involved in a game like this before. Fortunately, we got to end it on a good note. It was a tough situation for both teams though.”

For the Colonels (8-9-1) it also represents a pair of firsts. After losing their first appearance in a district championship came, Wood will host a playoff game Monday in the opening round of the Region II tournament in the Colonels’ first appearance in region play in the school’s history. “As a unit we feel bad right now,” Wood coach Jim Carden said. “But we’ve still got Monday, and we’ve had a great year. Building a great team takes time, and this squad has really moved this program forward a long way.”

Wood will host the Dulles District fourth-seed iin the Region II tournament on Monday.

“I thought that we were a step slow today,” Carden said. “We just didn’t seem to have it today as a team, and you have to give Millbrook a lot of credit for that. I thought that they were ready and maybe we weren’t, and that has to be on me.”

After lightning ended Tuesday’s showdown in a scoreless tie, play was resumed exactly where it left off with 29:44 remaining in the second half, with Wood throwing the ball in deep in Pioneer territory. Within seconds the Colonels turned that opportunity into the first shot of the game.

“At first we were a little off because we were starting deep in our end of the field with a throw-in,” Pioneer sweeper Callie Beegle said. “But we got it going after that and started putting pressure on them. They ended up not getting very many shots.”

Unfortunately for Wood, the next 29 minutes were controlled by the Pioneers. Beating the Colonels to the ball continuously and passing the ball crisply, Millbrook began an attack on Wood’s goal that spelled doom for the Colonels.

“It was very nerve-racking today,” Smith said. “One tiny mistake can change everything, and you have very little time to recover. Fortunately, we played mistake-free in the back. Callie Beegle is fantastic, and I have no idea how we’re going to replace her.”

The Pioneers outshot Wood 11-3 during Thursday’s game, and it was only a matter of time before Millbrook capitalized on the uneven play.

Beegle used her senior leadership to keep Wood away from the Pioneer goal through most of the second half and when the Colonels did manage to get a shot off, Millbrook goalkeeper Catlin Schrader kept it out of the Pioneer net.

“We went out there trying to play them really tight,” Beegle said. “We wanted to win the ball every time. That really worked for us today.”

With 18:30 left, Brooke Borlie hammered a free kick from 30 yards out that almost slipped by Colonel goalkeeper Ellie Volinsky.

Just seconds later, Pioneer Devan Davis found Holly Elko open near the Wood goal and hit her with a pass. Elko shot it into the Colonel net from 12 yards out to put Millbrook up 1-0.

“Devan got the ball over their defender to me,” Elko said. “I aimed it for the left corner and it went in. I thought that it was a great game, and everyone played really well. We were able to get the win despite the short amount of time, and it was a great feeling.”

Elko’s goal seemed to take the steam out of Wood, and just four minutes later Davis passed the ball to an open Jennifer Share who lofted it over Volinsky’s head to put the Pioneers up 2-0.

“I got a great pass from Devon, and it just happened to go up into the right-hand corner,” Share said. “We were trying to get as many goals in as we could in the 30 minutes.”

Share’s goal wasn’t the last time Millbrook challenged Volinsky, but the Wood freshman responded with seven saves to provide her Colonels with hope.

“We only practiced 30 minutes yesterday,” Smith said. “We stressed winning the ball, and pressing their defense. We also stressed winning the ball in the air, and Jennifer (Share) did a great job of that today.”