The Virginia High School League state soccer championship games had a little of everything, including excitement. There were repeat champions, and one winning for the sixth straight year.
There was a first-timer, and another won for a record 12th time. There was a scoreless draw followed by a penalty kick shootout. And one school, George Mason High School, swept both boys and girls championships.
Deep River Finishes Unbeaten
Elizabeth Ball, who will begin her collegiate soccer career at Penn State in the fall, put the exclamation point on her final high school season with a pair of goals for a 2-1 Deep River HS victory over Battlefield in the VHSL Group AAA championship game.
Her first came in the 18th minute to give the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Sydney Sisk tied the game for Battlefield with just seven seconds left before halftime.
The game-winner came in the 71st minute. Deep Run captured their first state girls soccer state championship and finished the season 22-0-1. The loss dropped Battlefield to 21-2-1.
Deep Green goalkeeper Kelsey Kilgore, who is also committed to Penn State, did not allow more than one goal in any one game and recorded shutouts against Kellam and Colonial Forge in the state quarters and semifinals, respectively.
Mount Vernon In PKs
Lucas Belanger stopped playing high school soccer as a sophomore to devote full time to the McLean Youth Soccer’s development academy program.
As a senior, he dropped the academy and came back to the Mount Vernon Majors midway through the season. In the VHSL Group AAA championship game, it was Belanger who came up big. He saved the final kick in the penalty kick shootout to give the Majors the title. It was his second save in the shootout.
The championship game was scoreless after 100 minutes of regulation and overtime. Mount Vernon (13-8-2) won the shootout 6-5 over Central Region champ Cosby HS (17-5-1) and their first state soccer championship.
Belanger, an American University recruit, played just 13 games for Mount Vernon, which had started the season 3-7-2, after returning to the team. He was in goal for two other shootout wins in postseason play leading up to the final.
I went in saying that I wanted to have fun,” Belanger said in an article in The Washington Post. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had playing soccer, especially with these boys, my classmates.”
Woodgrove Defends Title
Woodgrove didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard in the VHSL Group AA girls championship game. Bergen Elkjer hit the back of the net just 38 seconds into the game.
That got the Wolverines on track for a 2-0 victory over Briar Woods and their second straight state title. Ashley Bonner scored the second goal just before halftime.
It was the fourth meeting between the two teams in 2013, and the Wolverines expected a difficult game. Briar Woods handed Woodgrove its only loss of the year in the Region II championship.
Woodgrove (20-5-1) closed out the season winning nine of their last 10 games. The Falcons finished their season with a 19-5-1 record.
Even Dozen For Blacksburg
The Blacksburg Bruins took control of the Group AA boys final early and rolled to a 3-0 championship victory over Lynchburg’s E.C. Glass HS. It was Blacksburg’s Virginia-record 12th boys state championship victory.
The Bruins (21-0-1) got early goals from Shane Mecham and Sebi Brown to stagger Glass (21-2-1) which was making its first appearance in the championship game. Blacksburg has been in the final 19 times in 25 years.
Garland Smith finished the third goal in the 71st minute to seal the win.
Six Straight For George Mason Girls
The George Mason girls watched the boys team capture their VHSL Group A championship, and they went out and won their sixth straight state title.
Just seconds before halftime, Camille Rice got George Mason on the scoreboard with the game’s first goal against Stuarts Draft at Radford University. The Mustangs exploded for three more goals in the second to take home a 4-0 victory and another trophy.
Seven minutes into the second half Claire Trevisan had the second goal off a cross from Ava Roth. Less than two minutes later Roth scored the third. That goal came from freshman Ella Howard in the 76th minute.
Six Straight For George Mason Girls
Patrick Pereddo scored the winning goal to lead George Mason to the VHSL Group A boys state championship. Pereddo was an unlikely scoring option.
A defender, he was pushed up to forward with George Mason (21-3-1) tied 1-1 with unbeaten Stonewall Jackson-Quicksburg (24-1-0). He scored with 21 minutes left in the game.
The win made up for a loss to Stonewall in the Region B championship game. Freshman Raheem Lawal gave the Mustangs an early 1-0 lead just three minutes into the game.
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