Loudoun Soccer Stays Alive in States

Potomac Falls Boys, Broad Run Teams Advance

By Paul Tenorio

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Entering the season, the expectations were that Potomac Falls would be less of a threat in the Virginia AA Dulles District after the graduation of three-time All-Met Uche Onyeador, Virginia's all-time leading goal scorer.

But last night, the Panthers got contributions from up and down the roster, freshmen to seniors, and advanced to the state semifinals with a 3-2 win over Grafton.

It is the Panthers' first trip to that stage since Onyeador led them to a state title in 2006, when he scored 31 goals.

"A lot of people doubted us," senior Asa Fox said. "But as a team we knew what we had, we knew what we could do, and it feels great to have all these guys together and to go to states together."

The Panthers (17-5-1), who have won 11 consecutive games, opened the scoring with 16 minutes 48 seconds remaining in the first half when junior Conor Shanosky found Fox with a long ball on the left side.

Fox used a quick stepover to beat his defender on the end line, then played a ball back across the front of the goal for sophomore Eddy Funes to place into the net.

Potomac Falls extended the lead when freshman Andrew Burris's long free kick bounced into the path of sophomore Isaac Owusu, who poked the ball into the net.

Grafton answered with a goal from Jalon Brown just more than two minutes into the second half, but Potomac Falls opened the lead back to two with 17:53 to play when Burris fed junior Kevin King to set up a one-on-one opportunity that King put away.

"We were known for Uche and Ben Biber and some of the other kids we had, namewise," Potomac Falls Coach Dave Gryder said. "These kids don't have the same name recognition as those guys, but the kids bought in to what we were coaching them to do, they believed in themselves, and I think it shows a team can do it, not just individual players."

The Panthers advance to face district rival Broad Run (15-7), which downed Jamestown, 1-0, in its quarterfinal on a goal from Spencer Martin early in the second half.

It will be the fourth time the two teams have met this season. Potomac Falls won the three previous matches.

Broad Run Girls Continue to Roll

No. 2 Broad Run (21-0-1) defeated Jamestown 3-0 in a AA state quarterfinal last night at home.

The victory pushed Broad Run into Friday’s 10 a.m. semifinal at Radford University, where it will face the winner of Wednesday’s 4 p.m. weather-postponed game between Heritage (14-7-2) and Courtland (17-0-2).

Defending AA state champion Broad Run is riding one of the most dominant unbeaten streaks in the nation, having gone 45-0-1 in the past two seasons. Last night’s shutout gave senior All-Met goalkeeper Caitlin HunterÖ (UNC- Wilmington) the state record for single season shutouts (18).

Earlier this year, she broke the record for career shutouts and currently has 61.

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks