How 'Team To Beat' Was Beaten

Entering the season, No. 5 Stone Bridge and No. 2 Westfield were considered two of the top three boys' soccer teams in the Virginia AAA Northern Region.

But after the two teams fell in their respective district tournaments, they found themselves matched up Saturday in the first round of the region tournament.

And after missing several early opportunities -- including having two goals called back -- Stone Bridge was unable to hold off a potent Westfield attack and fell, 2-0, ending its Northern Region title defense.

"Much to Westfield's credit, once they got the lead, they sat in and locked us down and played a very conservative, defensive posture," Stone Bridge Coach Randy May said. "A good team will do that. We kept knocking on the door. I think statistically we had the edge, but I'm proud of my boys."

Stone Bridge (12-3-1) nearly found the net in the first minute of the game, when a corner kick was headed off the crossbar by Mike Herndon and stayed in a crowd in the box. Westfield defenders staved off two shots, and Herndon's rebound blast forced a great save from the Westfield goalkeeper.

Nine minutes later, a Stone Bridge forward got his head on a long free kick from Abdul Shaban and seemed to have put the Bulldogs ahead, but the goal was called back for contact with the goalkeeper, although the Stone Bridge player seemed to arrive at the ball first.

Westfield (12-2) took the lead five minutes after that on a quick counterattack that was chipped home by Irvin Herrera.

"We knew coming into the match they had two quality strikers up top, and one was able to get in behind us," goalkeeper Matt Miscione said. "He was real accurate, and there's not much you can do about it."

Stone Bridge seemed to have evened things with 12 minutes remaining in the half, but Herndon was called offside as he tucked away a shot that slipped through the Westfield defense.

"We score those two goals in the first half, whole different ball game," May said. "They have to chase us a little bit."

Herrera doubled the lead with eight minutes to go on a blast from the left side of the box, and Westfield was able to drop off the remainder of the game and absorb Stone Bridge's pressure.

Despite the loss, players and coaches praised the team's effort this season.

The defending Northern Region champions lost much from last year's team, including All-Met forward Ronnie Shaban. But despite the turnover, the Bulldogs lost just one regular-season game and remained one of the region's top teams.

"We knew coming into the season that people were probably going to look down on us, but at the same time think of us as the team from last year that won regionals," Miscione said. "We were the team to beat despite not being the same team. And we knew we had to rise to the occasion. I think we really just bonded fast, and that got us on track."

A New Shutout Record

In the first round of last week's Virginia AA Dulles District tournament, Broad Run senior goalkeeper Caitlin Hunter posted her 57th career shutout and set the Virginia High School League record. The No. 2 Spartans (17-0-1) defeated Dominion, 3-0, giving Hunter her 14th shutout this season and moving her into all-time first place above Clarke County's Courtney Peake, who had 56 shutouts from 2004 to 2007.

"Every year, I would get about 13 or 14 shutouts, and that's what I needed this year to break the record," said Hunter, a University of North Carolina at Wilmington recruit. "I thought I could get that this year, but I just didn't think it would happen so early."

Broad Run has outscored opponents 73-3 this season and has allowed just one goal in its past 16 games.

"I've been lucky," said Hunter, a four-year starter who has allowed 45 goals and a career 0.53 goals against average. "I've had a great solid defense all four years of high school. I think that played a huge part in it. It's pretty nice to get to say that you don't have to do much in the games."