Loudoun Valley Gets Last Laugh

Loudoun Valley junior forward Ashley Manning measures the Vikings' newfound success by the silence she encounters when stepping onto opposing teams' fields.

The No. 10 Vikings, located in Purcellville and playing in the shadow of neighboring powers Stone Bridge and Broad Run, were sometimes ridiculed during Manning's first two seasons.

"My freshman year we went to play Yorktown and they asked us if we rode our horses to school," said Manning, a Virginia Tech recruit who has scored nearly 50 goals in her high school career. "Some girl on our team responded with, 'We are more high-tech than that, we ride our tractors to school.' Now, it's a pretty good feeling, going back and beating those teams."

Manning has scored 15 goals and four assists this season as Loudoun Valley (9-0, 6-0 Virginia AAA Cedar Run District) has outscored its opponents, 43-2, and taken a stranglehold of first place in its conference.

Loudoun Valley entered last night's matchup with returning Virginia AAA state runner-up Battlefield (7-2-1) having shut out seven of its past eight opponents.

Manning is the Vikings' main scoring threat, but Amber Cook, a junior transfer from Notre Dame Academy who has committed to Old Dominion, has bolstered the back line. The Vikings have also gotten strong play from junior defender Ashleigh Hammer and a crop of talented freshmen, including Tabitha McHale, who recorded her sixth goal in last week's 8-0 victory over Fauquier.

"Ashley knows that when it comes down to the big game, that's when it counts," Cook said.

Oakton Is Ready to Be Tested

Despite Oakton's 6-0 start, junior Alex Straton said she and her teammates were looking forward to a tough five-day, three-game stretch against ranked opponents so that they could prove "we have some real talent," she said.

Straton, a Duke-bound scoring threat, proved that with a three-goal effort in a 5-1 victory over then eighth-ranked Centreville on Monday.

However, No. 8 Oakton (7-2) suffered an off-the-field blow last week when first-year coach Brooke Alexander left the team to be with her family following the sudden death of her 56-year-old mother, Pamela Davis Alexander of Alexandria.

Without Alexander coaching, Oakton dropped the first game of the season on Friday, a 2-0 loss to Chantilly.

Following Monday's victory over Centreville, the Cougars fell, 5-1, to Robinson, but the tough stretch has prepared them for the postseason.

"There's a lot of grieving still to do," said Alexander, a guidance counselor at Oakton. "The girls were adoring and wonderful and I was touched by their empathy."