Recap
Blacksburg earned the #1 seed in the state tournament by defeating Broadway 5-0. Ali Palmer scored the game winning goal in the 3rd minute on an assist from Catie Walters. Ashlen Burch added a second goal in the 5th minute on an assist from Maddie Dickinson. After much possession the Ali Palmer scored her second goal of the day in the 35th minute on and assist from Meghan Shelton. In the second half, Eden Elizabeth Phillips scored on and assist from Sophia Thompson in the 66th minute. Blake Carroll capped the scoring with a 5th, unassisted, goal in the 70th minute.
- Chris Martin recorded 1 save and Sarah Sallee helped preserve the shutout while the Broadway goal keeper made 14 saves. Blacksburg had 18 shots compared to Broadway’s 4 shots. Blacksburg had 9 corner kicks to 1 for Broadway.
Quoted from the Roanoke Times.
Blacksburg girls soccer dominates Broadway in regional title game, Ray Cox
Special Thanks to The Roanoke TimesLYNCHBURG — Minutes from the end of the Group 3A West girls soccer championship between Blacksburg and Broadway, the City Stadium lights that had been burning brightly the entire second half went dark. The game continued uninterrupted albeit under dimmer illumination. The two-time defending state champion Bruins had long since turned the lights out on the Gobblers, a regional final newcomer, on the way to Friday’s 5-0 win in the 3A West Regional. Seven minutes in, Blacksburg had its first goal and added two more before the break. A pair of second-half goals after intermission from the third and fourth Bruins to score reaffirmed Blacksburg’s dominance. “We knew from the way Broadway came back and was persistent in their last two games against Lord Botetourt and Cave Spring that it wasn’t going to be a matter of scoring those first two goals then riding it in,” Bruins coach Travis Eschenmann said. “We knew we had to continue to play hard. Otherwise, it could have been trouble for us.”
The Bruins (18-0-2) extended a 63-game unbeaten streak and next will engage Tabb in a state semifinal Friday at Amherst County High School. Broadway (17-3-2), playing in its first state tournament, takes on Culpeper County, also Friday at Amherst County. “We have to see this level of play if we’re going to learn how to compete against it,” Gobblers coach Bobby Mongold said. “We can’t simulate that in practice. I like the way we competed. I’m proud of this team.” Almost before the challengers could gather their thoughts, the Bruins’ Ali Palmer scored the first of her two goals, and Ashlen Burch followed a couple minutes later with the second score. “Catie Walters took on their outside backs like she does to a lot of different teams, and she laid it nice and easy back at my feet,” said Palmer, whose shot traveled 6 yards. Midfielder Maddie Dickinson then set up Burch for a 27-yard shot from the right flank. The ball traveled high and out of reach of Gobblers goal keeper Abby Jessup and nestled into the upper left corner of the net. Palmer added a third goal at 4:34. Jessup had a busy evening, facing 18 shots and making 14 saves.
Dark clouds and thunder interrupted proceedings a couple of minutes into the second half, and a 30-minute delay followed. Refreshed, the Bruins came back with their prettiest and then most unusual goals of the game. First, Eden-Elizabeth Phillips scored on a header off a corner kick . “That’s the thing I like, we’re scoring in a variety of ways,” Eschenmann said. Blake Carroll closed the onslaught when she belted a free kick from midfield that one-hopped the goalkeeper and nestled in the net over her head. There is something special about this team, said defender Sophia Thompson, one of the senior veterans. “We are relentless with everything we’ve done,” she said. “We have so many ways we can score that it makes us a dangerous team.”