Wood girls' soccer beats Broad Run in double overtime for first state berth

WINCHESTER — The James Wood girls' soccer team has won a lot of games this year because of the emphasis it puts on starting games in a strong fashion.

But on Tuesday, the Colonels won with what has to be the strongest finish in program history given the circumstances.

Following 80 minutes of scoreless play in regulation, McKenna Newcome scored the tying goal on Jasmine Hackman's corner kick with two minutes and 30 seconds left in the first overtime.

Then sophomore forward Maddie Shirley fired in a rebound of a Hackman shot in the first half of the second overtime — which is sudden-death — to lift James Wood to a 2-1 win over defending Class 4 state champion Broad Run at Kelican Stadium. The Colonels earned the first state berth in program history.

After Shirley's goal ended the game, the entire James Wood team immediately rushed to the right edge of the goal located farthest from the school and proceeded to pile on top of each other, with Shirley caught in the middle.

"It was amazing," said Shirley of the celebration. "It was the best moment, for sure."

It was a long time coming for players like Newcome.

The junior midfielder was on James Wood teams that finished one win short of the state tournament in 2021 and 2022. The 2021 team beat Loudoun County in the Region 4C semifinals, but the Virginia High School League only permitted region champions into the state tournament that year, and the Colonels lost 1-0 in the region championship game to eventual state champion Dominion.

"It's definitely a surreal feeling right now," said Newcome, a two-time Class 4 Northwestern District Player of the Year. "We're all crying, and we didn't even lose.

"It's just really cool. We worked hard for each other. I'm just so proud of all of us."

Shirley said, "Everybody played their best."

James Wood (17-2) will now host Dulles District champion Tuscarora (16-2-1) — last year's state runner-up — at 6:30 p.m. in Friday's championship game. Tuscarora — which beat Handley 8-1 in Tuesday's other semifinal — ended James Wood's season in the Region 4C semifinals with a 5-3 win in 2022.

Peak performances are what it takes to beat teams in the postseason from the Dulles District, which consists entirely of Loudoun County teams. Loudoun schools have won 13 of the last 14 Class 4/Group AA state championships.

The Spartans (11-8-1) returned 10 players with starting experience from last year's title team, but James Wood went toe-to-toe with them throughout Tuesday's contest.

The two squads were about as evenly matched as you can get during regulation, and each team had 11 shots.

Broad Run's Emily Lehman hit the left post on a shot from outside the 18 in the fifth minute, but James Wood sophomore Jes Taylor had an outstanding performance and snuffed out every other shot on frame. Taylor had seven of her nine saves in regulation, including one on a rebound shot from point-blank range seven minutes into the second half after diving to her right to stop the first shot.

James Wood's scoring chances against the Spartans in regulation might have been even more impressive against Broad Run goalie Mara Dufour (six saves). Junior forward Jolie Jenkins might have had the best look, but in the 53rd minute her left-footed shot sailed high after she did well to let Newcome's pass from the right run through the box so he could turn and shoot.

"Broad Run's a great defensive team," James Wood coach Donavan Russell said. "We just had to keep working together to defend, and to keep the ball and try and get some chances, and we did that.

"It was a different feel of the game for us, because we weren't having our way offensively like we normally do. We had to take what they gave us and make the most of it."

While the Colonels didn't score in regulation, they executed their chances magnificently when they needed to the most in overtime.

Emily Atkins put Broad Run up 1-0 late in the first five minutes of overtime on a 35-yard shot that was too high for Taylor to reach. But the Colonels didn't blink an eye.

"We had to keep states in our minds," Shirley said.

The teams switched sides of the field for the second half of the first 10-minute overtime. Jenkins made a strong run with the ball into the left side of the box, forcing Broad Run to make a slide tackle to knock the ball away.

It went out for a corner on the left side of the goal closest to the school. Hackman, a junior, took it and played the ball to the far post, and Newcome headed the ball back toward the center from about six yards out into space. A Broad Run player got a slight touch on the ball, but it easily went through for a 1-1 tie and set off a loud celebration.

"[Dufour] is really talented," Newcome said. "The first corner we had [on the side of the field closest to the school] she stepped up to intercept the ball kind of towards the near post, so I kind of pushed myself farther back.

"Then Jasmine placed a perfectly placed ball in behind the goalie. She couldn't catch it. From there it was just me trying to track it. I haven't had to backpedal a lot, but I had to backpedal for that one."

After Taylor punched a shot over the goal to keep the game tied, the two teams then went to sudden-death OT. Jenkins and Hackman again played huge roles in making a goal happen.

Jenkins freed herself from the Broad Run defense in the left corner and played the ball along the ground to Hackman near the top of the 18 on the left side. Hackman fired a shot along the ground to the lower right corner that Dufour dove for and stopped, but the rebound went right to Shirley.

Shirley said she knew she had to get to the back post in case Jenkins crossed the ball across the face of the goal instead of playing it back, so she was in perfect position to knock it in and set off the game's biggest celebration.

James Wood's attack stepped up late, and it was in position to do so because of the Colonels' young and talented defense. Taylor (sophomore) is fronted by center backs Sloane Ferrebee (sophomore) and Lydia Watson (senior) and outside backs Nayah Edwards (sophomore) and Avery Wright (freshman). James Wood has shut out nine opponents and held foes to two or fewer goals in 16 of 19 games.

"Sloane Ferrebee, I can't toot her horn enough," Russell said. "This game is why we have her back there, why her skill set is perfect for us back there this season. Just her tenacity, her speed, the way she reads things, the way she recovers when she barely ever gets beat. She's always back in the right spot. That's really a backbone for us back there."

James Wood showed tremendous backbone as a whole, and now, the Colonels will be state tournament bound for the first time.

"The confidence in each other is probably our best attribute," Russell said. "It didn't matter who we had out there. They all worked so hard. And every player on the bench was just so supportive. It's one of the best teams I've ever been a part of because of how much they care for each other. They don't care who does [a certain thing]. It's together."

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