The George Washington boys and girls soccer teams are coming to Beckley looking to earn another trip to the state soccer tournament.
The Beckley boys and the Greenbrier East girls will have something to say about that result.
Thursday evening the Region 3 soccer championships will be contested on the turf at Paul Cline Stadium with the winners earning a spot in the big dance played on the same field Thursday, Nov. 2 and Saturday, No. 4.
Flying Eagles head coach Steve Laraba is convinced his team is ready to go in the showdown with the Patriots.
“I think mentally and physically we are as close to 100 percent as we can be this time of year,” Laraba said.
Prior to last year, George Washington owned Region 3 having won every regional title since 2011. Across that 11-year span the Patriots raised the state championship trophy on six occasions.
Now the Patriots return to Beckley smarting from last year, but more focused on the game at hand.
“They are a very good team. They are not unbeatable, but we will have to be really good,” Laraba said. “There is a reason why they have won as many titles as they have and made as many appearances in the state tournament as they have. We have the utmost respect for them and for their program. Right now we are hoping to go out and put forth a good effort.”
The two teams met in the regular season just over three weeks ago with GW earning a 3-1 decision.
Scores from seniors Wes Goodwin in the 50th minute and Michael Luechauer in the 68th minute gave the Patriots (17-2-1) the eventual winning margin.
“We found out that if we make big mistakes that they have the players and the mentality to punish us pretty quickly and severely,” Laraba said. “We have to be good in all areas of the field.”
Luechauer leads George Washington with 32 goals and 10 assists on the year and Goodwin has 19 strikes with seven assists.
Beckley (15-3-2) will answer with one of the best defenses in the state, but in all honesty, defense can only carry the Flying Eagles so far Thursday.
“They have excellent midfielders and they have three phenomenal forwards. You are not going to keep a team with that type of ability and firepower from creating shots,” Laraba said. “You just have to limit them and hopefully make their opportunities not as clear and the first two goals they scored (in the first match).”
In the first matchup Beckley had some opportunities in the scoring third of the field, but could only generate one shot on goal.
“We have to find a way to get more chances at goal,” Laraba said. “You never want a team your are playing to feel like they can do whatever they want. We have to find a way to challenge them a bit more than we did the first of the month.”
Sophomore Coby Dillon leads the Flying Eagles with 13 goals, while senior Aide Bell and junior Tyler Snyder have six goals apiece.
The boys tilt will be the second match of the night and is slated for 8 p.m.
Greenbrier East is back in the regional title game for the first time since 2019 and the Spartans would love nothing more than to duplicate the boys state championship run from last year.
However, as if the mountain to climb past George Washington wasn’t already high enough, East is also battling some injury issues.
After hitting the eventual game winning penalty kick in the first half, junior stalwart Caroline Dotson missed the last 35 minutes of the regional championship win over Oak Hill with a knee issue.
Her status is unclear heading into the regional championship.
“She practiced a little bit Tuesday and will try again today,” head coach and father Mike Dotson said Wednesday afternoon. “She has made good progress in a week, but it has only been a week. It will probably be a game-time decision for her.”
The regular season meeting went to the Patriots, 1-0, but GW’s dynamic striker, Deryn Doamekpor did not play in that match.
“Deryn is a force up front. Her and Shelby (Tharp) will be the two forwards,” Dotson said. “Trying to slow them down will be our main concern.”
While the two strikers will garner plenty of attention, the Patriots go much deeper than two players.
“They are just really skilled and they possess the ball really, really well,” Dotson said. “The first game we played, we changed formation a little bit at halftime and kind of held them at bay, but we have to get more offense against them than we did the first time.”
Establishing more offense does create some problems for the Spartans, however.
“To push offense, we give up some defense on Deryn and Shelby and those two can really hurt you,” Dotson admitted.
Aly McManamay had a hat trick against Beckley in the sectional opener and will be a driving force on the offensive end. Ryan White will lead the back line defenders.
The key to success for Greenbrier East thus far in the postseason has been its ability to play carefree. With very few people outside of Fairlea likely thinking the Lady Spartans will win Thursday, the pressure is all on the Patriots.
“The girls are actually really relaxed,” Dotson said. “That has been their M.O. the last two games. I am hoping that carries over. They definitely won’t be going into the games scared and they seem ready to play.”
The girls match is slated to kick at 6 p.m.