P. Falls Boys' Soccer Cruises to Final

By Paul Tenorio

Saturday, June 6, 2009

RADFORD, Va. — Senior forward Asa Fox and the rest of his Potomac Falls teammates had heard the refrain during their run to the Virginia AA state semifinals.

The first 10 minutes of the second half was a chunk of time Panthers Coach Dave Gryder had emphasized as being critical during the Region II final against Broad Run on May 30 - only to see the Spartans score four minutes into the period to tie the score.

So when Potomac Falls went into halftime against the same Broad Run team holding the same one-goal lead on Saturday, Gryder again made his point.

"I wanted to make sure they were aware of the situation," Gryder said. "And could reverse what happened."

This time the Panthers (18-5-1) responded, with Fox placing a shot to the near post 50 seconds into the half to double the lead. And Potomac Falls benefited from a one-man advantage for the final half hour to cruise to a 5-0 victory.

"We knew that we just had to push, keep our back solid and hopefully get another goal," Fox said. "Luckily I got a break, I beat one guy and I finished to the near post. I mean, two-nil up, we were feeling pretty good, thought we controlled pretty well and we felt we had it."

Conor Shanosky's in-swinging corner kick set up the first goal in the 32nd minute, with teammate George Echart getting a touch on the ball right in front of the net to put it just over the goal line before Spartans goalkeeper Paul Hegedus could grab it.

The ball appeared to barely cross the line, but the referee quickly ruled it a goal and the Panthers had the lead at the half.

Fox's goal proved to be just the beginning for Potomac Falls. After a Broad Run player was red-carded with 31:58 to play, the Panthers immediately took control of the game.

With the Spartans pushing forward to try to get back into the contest, a quick counterattack gave Fox space and he found teammate John Thomas alone at the top of the box for a nicely finished volley with 18:37 left to make it 3-0.

A long throw from goalkeeper Ryan Howard set up Fox one-on-one just more than two minutes later, and the senior put it away to give the Panthers a 4-0 lead.

It was the fourth consecutive time this season Potomac Falls had beaten Broad Run (15-8), and the Panthers now go into the state title game tomorrow on a 12-game win streak.

"It's crazy," Shanosky said. "We found a rhythm, made a run and now we're going for states. After we won about five games, I said, 'Hey I think we can do this.' And we just kept winning."

Notes: Potomac Falls will be going for its first state championship since 2006, when they defeated Blacksburg, 2-1, to win the championship. Only one member remains from that team: senior Joe Baires. ... Potomac Falls senior Asa Fox was down for several minutes after scoring his second goal, and was out for the remainder of the game. Fox said afterward his elbow had gone into his ribs and knocked the wind out of him and he would be fine for today’s final.

Extra Points

By Paul Tenorio and Matt Brooks