Ever since Greenbrier East was prevented from defending its Class AAA Region 3, Section 2 soccer title due to a Covid shutdown in 2020, head coach Mike Dotson and the Lady Spartans have been in search of what they feel is rightly theirs.
Thursday night the championship trophy found its way back to Fairlea.
Following a foul in the box, junior Caroline Dotson drilled the penalty kick just inside the left post for the eventual winning goal in a 1-0 decision.
“I keep preaching that this is our section and we should own it. I kept saying this was the team to do it, but we had a couple of injuries and our center-back had to sit out the whole first half with a medical issues. Then Caroline went down. It wasn’t the prettiest soccer, but we held on.”
Having Caroline Dotson take the crucial penalty try boiled down to more than it just being his daughter for coach Dotson.
“We practice them, but over the years, she wants them. She goes up there with confidence thinking I am going to score this,” coach Dotson said. “It has been like that since middle school. There is a confidence about her. She has that attitude that she wants to score.”
Caroline Dotson echoed her father’s words.
“I do the same thing every time that I take a PK, so I am confident that I can put in the back of the net. I just felt like I should take it and we went with it.
Naturally Dotson’s winner was seen a little differently on the Oak Hill sideline.
“It was a cheap call, especially in a sectional championship game,” Oak Hill head coach Gerald Wilburn said. “I hate it for my kids. We had a great season and was here at home, then to have the wind taken out of your sails by the referee. I appreciate them, but they will be wishing they could take that call back.”
Five minutes into the second half, the game took a tough turn for the Spartans when Dotson went down with a knee injury and did not return the rest of the match.
Clearly in pain on the sideline, Dotson was more concerned about her team and making sure they finished out the match.
“This is not my first knee injury, it is my third one,” Dotson said. “It hurts our team having to take someone off the field in general. Making sure they held together meant everything to me. I am so proud of them. It was incredible. When I was down, they were telling me they had by back, which means a lot to me.”
With the field general down, Greenbrier East was forced to make some moves with the lineup.
“I am proud of them for fighting through that injury,” coach Dotson said. “I am proud of Bailey Nicely who toughed it out and came back in. Gracie Morgan, Kaylee (Wyatt) and Ally McManamay just played hard. If you don’t match their intensity, they will beat you.”
“Caroline is like a coach on the field,” coach Dotson went on to say. “I haven’t had that for a little while. We saw it (Tuesday) against Beckley and we saw it today. They lean on her. For us to move all of those different positions and still pull it out is something else. Oak Hill is scrappy. Gerald has that whole group playing really well.”
The Red Devils had some chances inside the box in the second half, but East was up to the challenge a did not surrender the tying goal.
“They are just tough and physical. That is really one thing that we don’t play well against,” Wilburn said. “It is tough when they play that physical. We are young up front, but I knew it would be tough tonight.”
Greenbrier East advances to the Region 3 championship game Thursday at 5 p.m. at Paul Cline Stadium in Beckley.
The regional winner will move on to the state tournament, also at Paul Cline Stadium starting Nov. 2.
