Boys Soccer: Tuscarora, Briar Woods Both Fall in State Semifinals

By Kyle Frazier 
Special to Viva Loudoun 
Radford (June 8, 2013) - The defending AA state runner-up Tuscarora High School boys soccer team allowed four goal in 23 minutes in the second half Saturday in a 4-0 loss to Blacksburg in the state semfinals. Earlier in the day at Radford University, Briar Woods Fell to E.C. Glass, 1-0.


Tuscarora (21-2-2) began the game Saturday on the defensive, with Blacksburg attacking most of the first 20 minutes of play. Tuskies goalie Adam Kight made two diving saves to keep the Bruins off the board.

At the 30 minute mark, Tuscarora midfielder Justin Carey missed off the post and shortly after just missed high on another good opportunity.

Coming out of the half, Blacksburg's Geinda Smith outran two Huskie defenders on a breakaway to put the Bruins ahead 1-0. Three minutes later, Blacksburg's Mitchell Williams put one in the upper left corner from outside the box, giving the Bruins a 2-0 advantage.

A penalty inside the box by the Huskies gave the Bruins yet another scoring opportunity as Smith found the net on a penalty kick. The Huskies responded with an offensive push, yet found the Bruins on a counter that resulted in a fourth goal

"I thought we had a good first half and then gave up those goals and it's too hard to recover from being down like that," said Tuscarora head coach Dave Gryder.

In the first semifinal, Region II champion Briar Woods played an uneventful first half with E.C. Glass that was preceded by a thrilling second half.

Briar Woods (16-7-1) maintained control of the ball throughout much of the second half; however, at the 56 minute mark, E.C. Glass made an offensive push. Briar Woods keeper Kent Legg came up with a fantastic save to keep the game scoreless at the 58 minute mark. Four minutes later, E.C. Glass midfielder Henrik Larsvik put one in the back of the net to give the Hilltoppers a 1-0 advantage.

Briar Woods reapplied the pressure off the kickoff, with a quick header by co-captian Jimmy Grace that rebounded off the crossbar. A few minutes later, the Falcons had another opportunity where Grace just missed to the left.

The Falcons, looking for their first ever state boys soccer final,  made a final offensive push with two minutes remaining where midfielder Colin Verfurth missed wide left.

"We didn't create a clear chance except that one (the header off the crossbar) and maybe one or two others. They had one clear chance and buried it. It was two very good teams playing a very competitive game," said Briar Woods coach Francois Bernard.