GROUP AA SOCCER all-battlefield CHAMPIONSHIP it's the finals for cougars
Group AA girls soccer semifinal: Riverbend vs. Hidden Valley
Date published: 6/9/2007
PHOTOS: Riverbend high school girls soccer team defeats Courtland 2-0 for the AA state title at Radford University.
BY ADAM HIMMELSBACH
RADFORD--The Courtland girls soccer players trudged to the bench looking like they'd just been grounded. They huffed and puffed. Some slugged water from paper cups before angrily splashing the rest on the ground.
"We don't want to cry," Cougars sophomore Kara Blosser said, "so we just throw our stuff."
The mood of the Hidden Valley players was far different. They smiled and strutted. Some hugged.
Funny thing was, the Group AA state semifinal was not over.
Sure, the Titans had used a late and improbable two-goal flurry to send the game to overtime. And then they took the lead 20 seconds into the extra session.
But Courtland freshman Tempestt Roper scored to make it 4-4 with two minutes left in overtime, and the Cougars went on to win in a penalty-kick shootout, 4-1.
Courtland will face Riverbend for the Group AA state championship today at 10 a.m. It will be the fifth meeting between the two district rivals this season. Riverbend won the first four, but the last three were decided by one goal.
"I'm pumped we get them again," Courtland coach Dennis Berry said. "These girls want another opportunity."
Yesterday, Roper had her own redemptive moment.
In Courtland's Group AA quarterfinal against Broad Run, Roper accidentally knocked a crossing pass into her team's own goal. The Cougars overcame the early deficit to win on penalty kicks, but Roper still carried the misstep with her to Radford.
"I felt like I needed to do something on the field to apologize for the last game," she said.
Roper was a late substitution at the start of the second five-minute overtime, when Courtland trailed, 4-3.
With 2 minutes, 21 seconds left, Blosser's shot from the left side was deflected toward the top of the penalty box. Roper pushed forward and ripped a low shot to the right corner of the net, making it 4-4.
Neither team scored during 10 minutes of sudden-death overtime, as the game rolled to a penalty-kick shootout.
And that is where the Cougars seem most comfortable.
| GROUP AA At Radford University Yesterday's girls semifinals
Courtland 4, Hidden Valley 4 Courtland wins 4-1 on PKs
Riverbend 5, Cave Spring 0
Today's state final
Courtland vs. Riverbend, 10
Yesterday's boys semifinals
Cave Spring 2, Jamestown 0
Blacksburg 4, Riverbend 1
Today's state final
Cave Spring vs. Blacksburg, noon
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Date published: 6/9/2007
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