Shady Spring girls soccer coach Joey Beckett knew if his team played the way it was capable of, it would be successful in the postseason.
Monday night the Tigers were hard to handle.
Competing in weather where rain gear, heavy coats, hoodies and blankets were the order of business, Shady Spring opened the Class AA-A Region 3, Section 1 girls soccer tournament with a bang.
After taking a 2-1 lead at halftime, the Tigers exploded for five second-half goals to beat James Monroe 7-1.
Shady Spring advances to the sectional final Wednesday against the winner of Bluefield and PikeView.
“The girls played excellent tonight. We changed the line-up just a little bit and we (substituted) more, so they got more rest,” Beckett said. “The girls played like I know they can play. They played it to the corners and then back in. We crashed the goal and the defense played well. The girls can play that way, when they play.”
Sophomore Ella Gray and senior Katie Garrett were a nemesis for the Mavericks all night.
A cross from Garrett that was deflected by the James Monroe keeper, found the foot of Gray for the first goal of the match.
The visitors tied it up when leading scorer Maija Kubes got behind the Tigers back line on a breakaway, but the momentum did not continue for the Mavs.
For the remainder of the contest, the home field turf and the weather conditions favored the Tigers.
“I think the weather actually helped us because the ball scoots and skips on this wet turf. They are a good team, but I thought their goalie struggled with it. It seemed to hurt them more than us,” Beckett said. “I wanted to play on a wider, longer field. Their field is short and narrow. This field is to our advantage. I was glad we had home field advantage.”
Shady broke the tie and took the lead for good when a blast from Garrett, from the left side, slipped through the keepers hands for a 2-1 lead which stood at the break.
“I think the turf was as big part of it tonight for us. This is only our second game on turf. We played Logan on turf (early in the year) and that is the only time we have played on turf this year,” James Monroe head coach Travis Allen explained. “We try to simulate it in practice, but nothing really prepares you for the real thing.”
The turf was a big factor on goal number three for the Tigers.
Just minutes into the second half, Delilah Taylor launch a high ball towards the goal that bounced above the keeper and just under the crossbar for a 3-1 lead.
While the Tigers were finding the back of the net, James Monroe was struggling to find some offense.
“Shady did a really good job of pushing their back four defenders up and pressed us on the half field,” Allen said. “They did not do that the first two times we played them. I think that was one of the biggest difference makers tonight.”
Garrett was on the scoring end of the next two goals to complete her hat trick and make it a 5-1 advantage for Shady Spring.
Crashing in on a cross that just missed its intended target, Garrett ripped a shot off the keeper which bounced into the net. On her third goal of the night, Garrett knocked in a rebound that spilled out from Audrey Henderson’s free kick.
Gray capped the scoring for Shady with a shot that slid past the keeper with 17 minutes to play before going near post with 9:20 to play to complete her hat trick.
“We are usually a second half team. Normally if we hang in there in the first half, the second half is usually in our favor. We just play better, but it did not go our way tonight,” Allen said.
Although the season ended Monday for James Monroe, it capped a highly successful year for the ladies from Lindside.
“We won two games last year and one game the year before that. We won eight games this year,” Allen said. “We had a winning record and we went from being scored on over 60 times last year to only 30 times this year. We also led our section on goals scored this year. It was a complete turnaround for us.”
