Glenvar junior Bryce King discusses his hat trick and what it will be like facing Clarke County for the Class 2 boys soccer championship.
Glenvar forward Bryce King gravitates toward the front of the net whenever one of his teammates puts a shot on goal. His rationale is simple: the goalkeeper doesn’t always secure the ball. If King is in the right place, he can capitalize on the rebound.
His presence in front of the net paid dividends in Friday’s Class 2 boys soccer semifinal against Poquoson.
King recorded his first career hat trick, highlighted by two second-half goals, and the Highlanders cruised to a 5-1 win over Poquoson at Roanoke College’s Kerr Stadium.
“You can get the most easiest of goals standing in front of the net,” he said. “They’ll just give it to you.”
King’s three-goal performance lifted the Highlanders (19-1-1) to the Class 2 championship game for the second consecutive season. They will face Clarke County (24-0), which rallied to defeat Radford 2-1 in an earlier semifinal.
People are also reading…
The state title contest is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Kerr Stadium and is a rematch of last season’s final that Clark won 3-2.
“I can’t wait because I want to get revenge on them from last year,” King said. “I want to win a state championship.”
Clarke had to rally from a one-goal deficit to defeat Radford on Friday.
The Bobcats (14-4-1) took a 1-0 lead on a set piece in the 50th minute.
Elijah Goff sent the ball into the box and it deflected from Andrew Hope to Elijah Kelly, who found the back of the net to give Radford the precious one-goal advantage.
“I think I was just in the right place at the right time,” Kelly said. “We work on set pieces all throughout the year, so I just know where to be.”
Clarke needed 10 minutes to score the equalizer and another four minutes to take the lead for good.
Josh Beiler’s pass into the box was collected on the left side by Oakley Staples, who drilled a shot by Radford goalkeeper Charlie Davis (nine saves) in the 60th minute to tie the game.
That goal came less than a minute after Leo Morris’ goal off a rebound was negated by an offsides call.
Morris scored the game-winner on a penalty kick after he was fouled in the box in the 63rd minute.
“Under pressure, your responsibility becomes more and more important,” Radford coach Clark Ramsey said. “We just lost some responsibility under those moments of pressure.”
Glenvar didn’t fold under pressure against the Islanders (12-10) in the day’s second semifinal.
Kian Fisher and King each scored in the first half when there was congestion in the box.
King repeated the feat in the 44th minute to put the Highlanders ahead 3-0, and Wesley Feliciano’s shot from the left side of the box found the back of the net in the 46th minute for a 4-0 advantage.
Robert Brown scored for Poquoson in the 65th minute, but that was answered less than six minutes later when Adam Saunders sent in a beautiful pass into the box that King finished for the hat trick.
“We talked about coming into the game and the quarterfinal game of capitalizing on every opportunity,” Glenvar coach Josh Jones said, “which means we’ve got to crash the goal, because if the goalie doesn’t come up with it clean, we’ve got to be there to put it in.”
The Highlanders are playing in their second state championship game and are in search of their first state crown. They came agonizingly close to winning the title last season, as Clarke used two sensational goals from Callaway Beckett to rally for the narrow victory.
“We just want to come out and play our best and put our best effort and execution forward and hopefully things go our way,” Jones said.
GIRLS SOCCER
Clarke County 6, Glenvar 0
Glenvar’s bid to repeat as the Class 2 champion was derailed by Clarke County’s dominating first half.
The Eagles (23-0) scored four first-half goals, including one late in the opening 40 minutes, to seize control and cruise to a lopsided win over the Highlanders (17-4) in the Class 2 semifinals at Kerr Stadium.
“It’s been an incredible season,” Glenvar coach Kyleigh Drew said. “These girls have worked so hard and faced so much adversity this season. They’ve played through a lot, and I’m just very proud of them.”
The Highlanders didn’t lose in Three Rivers District play and were the runners-up to Appomattox in the Region 2C tournament.
Clarke continued its stellar season with its 19th shutout in 23 games. The Eagles have outscored their opponents 174-4 this season.
“They are phenomenal. They’re very talented,” Drew said of Clarke County.
Damien Sordelett (540) 981-3124
https://ift.tt/Pi0gK2w
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar