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GROUP AA SOCCER all-battlefield CHAMPIONSHIP it's the finals for cougars

June 9, 2007 12:35 am

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.

In the Battlefield District semifinals against Chancellor, Courtland won on penalty kicks to advance to the Region I tournament. The Cougars did it again in the Tuesday's state quarterfinal against Broad Run.

Along the way, the Cougars have found a bouncing, bobbing hero in goalkeeper Krystal Garrison. The senior is a bundle of energy on the goal line, and, apparently, it distracts shooters.

After Courtland's Stacy Fletcher popped the first shot into the left corner of the goal, Hidden Valley's Jessica Welfare knocked an offering wide right.

Courtland's Kayla Patterson scored to make it 2-0, and Hidden Valley's Kelsey Ballard then kicked the ball directly at Garrison, who made the save.

"That's what really helps me with my movement," Garrison said. "They don't know where I'm going, so they don't know where to kick it."

Lauren McCoy and Wanda Noblin converted their shots for Courtland, and 100 minutes of soccer in sweltering heat ended with surprising ease. The Cougars swarmed Noblin after her clinching goal, but the celebration was somewhat muted.

Late in the second half of yesterday's semifinal, it looked like that celebration would come easily for Courtland.

With the score tied 1-1 in the 46th minute, McCoy passed the ball to Blosser at the top of the penalty box. The Hidden Valley defense was stuck flat-footed, seemingly expecting an offside call that never came. Blosser rolled a shot into the net from about 15 yards away.

Three minutes later, Ana Hernandez sent a pass to Blosser, who took a touch before drilling a shot into the goal.

"We played more than 76 minutes of great soccer," Dennis Berry said. "And then I don't know what happened."

What happened was Hidden Valley's Kelsey Ballard scored with about three minutes left in regulation. And Kendall Robertson scored two minutes later, sending the game to overtime.

Twenty seconds into overtime, Robertson carried the ball along the left sideline and crossed the ball to Maddy Elder, whose one-touch goal made it 4-3.

Adam Himmelsbach: 540/374-5442
Email: ahimmelsbach@freelancestar.com