Gallery by Heather Belcher
Just under three weeks ago, the Greenbrier East girls soccer team shutout Woodrow Wilson 3-0 on the pitch in Fairlea.
However, Spartans head coach Mike Dotson knew coming into the rematch Tuesday night at Paul Cline Stadium, his team would face a totally different challenge.
Just as Dotson expected, the Raleigh County girls came to play and gave the Spartans all they could handle.
East was up to the challenge.
Fending off a slow start, Greenbrier East escaped Beckley with a 3-1 win over the pesky Flying Eagles.
“I think sometimes it is hard to explain to our girls that when you come to Beckley, you have to be ready to play. They just weren’t as much as we needed to be. Then Woodrow comes at us and we were on our heels for a little while. Give (Woodrow Wilson head coach) Julie (Agnor) and that team credit. They came to play and they put us back a little bit.”
Woodrow Wilson made things interesting early in the contest when Izzy Umberger launched a high shot towards the goal. The ball then took a huge bounce when it hit the surface bouncing over the outstretched arms of the keeper for a 1-0 lead just six minutes into the contest.
Greenbrier East evened the game seven minutes later when Caroline Dotson played the ball forward into the scoring third and sophomore Kiana McClung did the rest. McClung raced past the Flying Eagles back line and launched a winner inside the far post to tie the match.
“Kiana has come a long way. She is improving leaps and bounds every game that she plays,” Dotson said. “She has speed that you can’t teach. She seems to hit top speed first thing.”
Greenbrier East took the lead seven minutes later when a collision in the box with Ava Workman and a Woodrow defender was ruled as a foul on the Flying Eagles.
The call naturally did not sit well with the Beckley sideline.
“The initiated contact came down on our girl first,” Agnor said. “She was falling and then where do you go. She had nowhere to go except forward.”
Caroline Dotson hammered home the penalty try to give Greenbrier East a 2-1 advantage that stood at halftime.
In the first 40 minutes of action, the Spartans had 10 shots with seven of them on frame, while Woodrow Wilson tallied four shots with two on frame.
“(Woodrow Wilson keeper) Mia (Seiter) played a great game the first time we played them. I think in the back of their minds they were thinking they had to play the corners,” Dotson said. “We just kept holding onto it to long. Give Mia credit for how well she played and put that in our heads.”
The final goal of the night came with 25 minutes to play on a second penalty kick for the Spartans. Workman again played the ball into the penalty box where a collision between her and Seiter was once again ruled as a foul on the home team.
“As far as we could tell, it appeared Mia got her hands on the ball,” Agnor said. “That is what you do as a goalkeeper and you have to protect yourself.”
The second penalty kick was taken by Workman who punched it in for the 3-1 margin.
“The first one was farther away and I couldn’t tell, but it looked like she rolled up on her leg when Ava was trying to take off,” Dotson said. “The second one from our angle, it looked when the goalie was going for the ball she grabbed her foot.”
Although the calls were a tough pill to swallow, Agnor was impressed with the fight put forth by her team who has now given sectional rivals Greenbrier East and Oak Hill tough matches.
“It was an even game,” Agnor said. “They can give them a few goals, but that is on them. You can’t help what gets called. I am very proud of my girls. They gave everything that they had and they dug deep.”
“The girls pushed and we did the same exact thing against Oak Hill,” Agnor went on to say. “I think we may be surprising some people. My girls have heart and they are working their tails off. I couldn’t ask for more. We have some momentum now and the girls believe in themselves. They are seeing what they can do and they are owning it right now.”
Greenbrier East (7-1-1) hosts Musselman Saturday, while Woodrow Wilson (3-5-1) hosts Pocahontas County for Senior Night Thursday.
