Virginia Girls' Soccer
Oakton Gets State Tournament Spot
Christy Hassell, left, gets the ball past West Springfield's Maggie McGavin to score a goal during Oakton's 4-2 win in penalty kicks.
(By Toni L. Sandys -- The Washington Post)
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Thursday, May 28, 2009
Christy Hassell turned her back to the goal at Robinson, her penalty kick still swirling in the back right corner of the net. She threw her hands in the air and ran toward a hoard of charging teammates.
Hassell's stroke gave No. 7 Oakton a 4-2 win over West Springfield in penalty kicks after a 2-2 tie in regulation of their Virginia AAA Northern Region semifinal game last night.
"I just saw that their goalie was better at going to the left, so I pushed my shot to the right," Hassell said.
The game-winner gave Oakton (14-2) an automatic berth into the state tournament and pushed the Cougars into tomorrow's 5:30 p.m. regional final at Madison, where they will face No. 5 Chantilly -- a 4-2 winner over No. 8 McLean in last night's other semifinal at Robinson.
In regulation, Oakton got a corner kick touch-in from Hassell and an aggressive scrum finish from freshman Caroline Coyer to take a 2-1 lead.
No. 6 West Springfield (15-2-2) scored on two corner kicks, both pinpoint offerings from Katie Scanlon that connected with teammates Jessie Gonzalez and Bekah Adams.
Hassell's game-winner ended West Springfield's dominant run -- one in which the Spartans outscored their opponents, 50-2, with 14 shutouts since mid-March.
In the other region semifinal, Chantilly senior Kaitlyn Manley watched her team's 2-0 lead evaporate and her early goal and assist rendered meaningless just five minutes after halftime when McLean rallied to tie.
With an automatic state playoff entry on the line, Manley revived the playoff hopes of No. 5 Chantilly (16-2-1) as she buried teammate Kristen Melchiori's touch-pass for the decisive goal in a 4-2 victory last night at Robinson.
"I think we just were secure with our lead and thought let's just hang back a bit," said Manley, a midfielder who finished with two goals and an assist last night. "We came back, so that's what matters."
Manley finished freshman midfielder Olivia Colella's touch-pass through a group of McLean defenders to put Chantilly up 1-0 and then redirected a long offering from midfield for a 2-0 cushion.
No. 8 McLean (15-3) rallied on a free-kick from Andie Romness to Jasmine Mohandessi and a 45th-minute finish from Kristina Bettner before Manley's game-winner.
