Following a stellar run to the state tournament in 2011, it took the Shady Spring girls soccer teams 10 years to secure another sectional title.
The Tigers had no intentions of waiting that long again.
Last Wednesday night, Shady Spring made it back-to-back AA-A Region 3, Section 1 titles when it defeated Bluefield 3-2 in penalty kicks at East River Soccer Complex.
Making the win even more impressive was the fact that the Tigers pulled of the feat after a massive shake-up in the roster from last season.
“We lost 14 players out of 22 or 23 from last year. Three of the four (back-line defenders) were first time players,” Shady Spring head coach Joey Beckett said. “They have come along really well this year. The last four or five games, things started clicking. The defense grew up and started playing well, plus the offense started hitting more goals. We were getting 20 or so shots a game, but we couldn’t get any in. Then it started falling and in the last four games.”
With numerous new pieces and plenty of learning to be done, the season started rough for the Tigers, dropping five of their first six games.
Signs of what Beckett thought his team could became evident in wins over James Monroe and Midland Trail, but even more important for Shady was it started to flex its muscle against sectional foes.
“The first game, Mingo (Central) beat us 2-1, then PikeView beat us 2-1. We tied Bluefield, but then we (came back and) beat Mingo 2-0 and PikeView 3-0 (at the end of the regular season). Then we beat PikeView 6-0 (in the sectional game),” Beckett said.
With the strikers starting to find the back of the net on a consistent basis led by senior Mallie Lawson and rising freshman star Ella Gray, the play of the back line defenders was the final piece to the puzzle of success.
Sophomore Reece Keffer was the lone returning veteran in the back. She was joined by three junior newcomers, Kendall Lilly, Kylee Barnes and Kaylee Waddell.
“My freshman grew up and learned to play physical. They didn’t realize what they were up against when they first came in,” Beckett said. “Then my three that never played before started to learn the game and started marking up.”
The sectional championship game against Bluefield was a microcosm of the season for the Tigers who fell behind early, 1-0.
“We started out real slow and they shouldn’t have. (Bluefield) played well, but we were sluggish and didn’t come out hard. They were pressing and had everybody up,” Beckett said. “The girls were a little bit confused, but the girls settled in and played like they can play. The second half we pressured, played hard and got a goal in. We had some other chances, but they just didn’t go.”
Senior Mallie Lawson’s blast in the second half tied the game, but neither team could score over the remainder of regulation play or in the two 10-minute sudden victory overtime periods.
Heading to the best-of-five penalty kicks, Bluefield won the toss and elected to shoot first.
The Beavers missed on their first chance and Shady Spring keeper Lilian Hatfield made a nice save on the second attempt.
The Tigers, on the other hand, could not have asked for a better start with Lawson and Alli Betkijian knocking on both of their attempts for a 2-0 lead.
However, the win was not going to come that easy for Shady Spring. Two scores from Bluefield and a pair of misses by the Tigers evened the shots at 2-2 with one more attempt before sudden victory kicks.
Needing a huge stop, Honaker made the crucial save which gave Audrey Henderson the chance to win the match. Henderson made good on the try for a wild 3-2 win.
The dramatic win sends Shady Spring into the Region 3 championship where the challenge grows immensely.
Waiting for the Tigers will be Charleston Catholic who has won the last three state championships and five of the last eight in Class AA-A.
The Irish enter the match 18-0-2 with the ties coming to Class AAA foes Morgantown and Hurricane who have already qualified for the state tournament amongst the big schools.
Dominance may be an understatement when it comes to the Irish. So far this season Catholic has scored 107 goals and allowed only four.
Sophomore Molly Messer leads the team with 25 goals followed by seniors Claire Mullen with 18 and Annie Cimino with 13 netters. The senior class at Charleston Catholic is 6-0 in state tournament play.
“We are not going to change up a whole lot. I made some adjustments, but we will just play our game,” Beckett said. “Anything can happen, but we are not supposed to win, so we don’t have any pressure. We will just have fun and play as hard as we can.”