Spartans Get to Savor a Satisfying Repeat

As they huddled around the Virginia AA state girls' soccer trophy, the Broad Run players stretched out their hands to touch the shiny cup -- a piece of history.

The cup, which they won for a second straight season after a dominant 3-0 victory in the title game over Hidden Valley on Sunday at Radford University, was another piece of hardware for an untouchable squad that finished the season on a state-record 48-game unbeaten streak.

"Teams needed to realize that we were better with pressure on us," All-Met Player of the Year Holly King said.

No. 1 Broad Run (23-0-1) was buoyed by a cast of college-bound stars in King (Florida), All-Met goalkeeper Caitlin Hunter (UNC Wilmington), Kelly Evans (Old Dominion), Valerie Powell (Arkansas) and Taylor Starr (Tusculum) and fortified by a set of underclassmen that are expected to continue to power the Spartans, including under-17 national pool player Whitney Church, a sophomore midfielder.

In becoming Virginia's first AA team to repeat as state champion, Broad Run outscored its opponents 198-20 with 32 shutouts over the two seasons, including a state-record 20 this year. The Spartans outscored their opponents 85-4 this year and gave up just one goal in the playoffs.

Hunter also set Virginia High School League goalkeeping records for shutouts in a season (20) and career (63).

"To be a part of this Broad Run dynasty, to be a part of this Broad Run legacy that they've created, it's just amazing to be a part of it," Coach Claire Collins said.

Robinson Appreciates Accomplishments

It took a couple of days for Robinson to recover from its penalty-kick loss at home to Mills Godwin in the boys' Virginia AAA state quarterfinals -- Rams Coach Jac Cicala said he couldn't even find some of his players around the school.

But as the sting of the loss to the eventual state runner-up wore off, the accomplishments of a team that closed the season with 11 consecutive shutouts began to set in.

Despite losing several key components from the last year's state runner up team, including 2008 All-Met Player of the Year Seth Goldman, Robinson won the Concorde District tournament and Northern Region titles behind a dominant defense that went more than a month without allowing a goal.

Led by All-Met defender Jimmy Brewer and junior goalkeeper Samir Badr, a U.S. under-17 national pool player, the Rams last allowed a goal on April 23 before bowing out of the state playoffs on penalty kicks on June 2 following a 0-0 tie.

Badr did not allow a goal in the 12 games he played this season and the Rams allowed just six goals in 19 games.

"That says a lot for our defense and a lot for Samir in the net," Cicala said. "To have a back four that worked that well together, you don't get that often. Those back four were solid and relentless."