Lynn Burke
11-09-2007, 02:33 PM
Grafton beats Jamestown in state semifinals
By Robin Brinkley | Correspondent
VIRGINIA BEACH – A Bay Rivers District team will play for the Group AA/A state field hockey title today for the first time in five years. But it’s not the team most people expected.
Grafton avenged two losses to Jamestown by upsetting the Eagles 4-1 in Friday’s semifinals at the National Training Center. The Clippers (15-7) will meet Western Albemarle at 10 a.m. The Warriors advanced with a 1-0 win over Chancellor.
Grafton made the most of its chances in a game that was statistically even. Both teams were credited with nine shots and seven short corners.
But the Clippers stuck to the underdog script – score quickly (they did it twice), get a lucky break, avoid key mistakes – and were rewarded with a major upset.
“We’re extremely confident now. We’re the Cinderella story,” junior back Sarah Wister said.
Wister put the Clippers on top only 62 seconds into the game when she tipped in a shot by Christina Verhulst on a short corner.
“That made a huge difference to get a really quick goal,” Grafton coach Don Samuels said.
Jamestown, the district tournnament and region champion, quickly recovered. The Eagles peppered Grafton keeper Jamie Dowling with three shots on a short corner in which the Clippers inexplicably used only three chasers.
But Grafton regained the momentum in lightning-quick fashion. Verhulst, on a restart, crossed the ball to Mary Nixon in the shooting circle. Her shot was blocked, but Megan Keithley jumped on the loose ball and scored to make it 2-0 at 22:15.
Jamestown’s Megan Matthews had two excellent scoring opportunities in the final two minutes of the half. Dowling stopped the first one with a kick save. Matthews’ second shot hit the right post and rolled across the goal mouth before a defender nudged it out of bounds.
Grafton may have felt fortunate to be up 2-0 at halftime, but the Clippers didn’t sit on their lead. A quick shot by Beth Guse resulted in a short corner only 20 seconds into the half.
Wister triggered to Verhulst and this time Rachel Donze was lurking by the right post to tip it in.
Jamestown again regrouped and dominated the ball until Christine Johnson scored on a tip-in off a short corner to make it 3-1 with 18:49 to play.
But the opportunistic Clippers kept looking for ways to attack. Mikaela Makowski intercepted a pass and sent a through ball to Lindsay Leonard. The quick transition caught Jamestown flat-footed and Leonard beat keeper Caitlin Keroack to the stick side increasing the lead to 4-1 with 14:58 left.
“I thought she was going to come out on me,” Leonard said of Keroack, “so I picked a spot and shot quickly. Amazing.”
Jamestown forced four short corners in the last five minutes, but couldn’t score again.
The defeat left coach Shannon Freeman momentarily speechless.
“We just didn’t come out to play 60 minutes,” she said, searching for the right words. “Grafton is a great team, and we didn’t play as a team today.”
By Robin Brinkley | Correspondent
VIRGINIA BEACH – A Bay Rivers District team will play for the Group AA/A state field hockey title today for the first time in five years. But it’s not the team most people expected.
Grafton avenged two losses to Jamestown by upsetting the Eagles 4-1 in Friday’s semifinals at the National Training Center. The Clippers (15-7) will meet Western Albemarle at 10 a.m. The Warriors advanced with a 1-0 win over Chancellor.
Grafton made the most of its chances in a game that was statistically even. Both teams were credited with nine shots and seven short corners.
But the Clippers stuck to the underdog script – score quickly (they did it twice), get a lucky break, avoid key mistakes – and were rewarded with a major upset.
“We’re extremely confident now. We’re the Cinderella story,” junior back Sarah Wister said.
Wister put the Clippers on top only 62 seconds into the game when she tipped in a shot by Christina Verhulst on a short corner.
“That made a huge difference to get a really quick goal,” Grafton coach Don Samuels said.
Jamestown, the district tournnament and region champion, quickly recovered. The Eagles peppered Grafton keeper Jamie Dowling with three shots on a short corner in which the Clippers inexplicably used only three chasers.
But Grafton regained the momentum in lightning-quick fashion. Verhulst, on a restart, crossed the ball to Mary Nixon in the shooting circle. Her shot was blocked, but Megan Keithley jumped on the loose ball and scored to make it 2-0 at 22:15.
Jamestown’s Megan Matthews had two excellent scoring opportunities in the final two minutes of the half. Dowling stopped the first one with a kick save. Matthews’ second shot hit the right post and rolled across the goal mouth before a defender nudged it out of bounds.
Grafton may have felt fortunate to be up 2-0 at halftime, but the Clippers didn’t sit on their lead. A quick shot by Beth Guse resulted in a short corner only 20 seconds into the half.
Wister triggered to Verhulst and this time Rachel Donze was lurking by the right post to tip it in.
Jamestown again regrouped and dominated the ball until Christine Johnson scored on a tip-in off a short corner to make it 3-1 with 18:49 to play.
But the opportunistic Clippers kept looking for ways to attack. Mikaela Makowski intercepted a pass and sent a through ball to Lindsay Leonard. The quick transition caught Jamestown flat-footed and Leonard beat keeper Caitlin Keroack to the stick side increasing the lead to 4-1 with 14:58 left.
“I thought she was going to come out on me,” Leonard said of Keroack, “so I picked a spot and shot quickly. Amazing.”
Jamestown forced four short corners in the last five minutes, but couldn’t score again.
The defeat left coach Shannon Freeman momentarily speechless.
“We just didn’t come out to play 60 minutes,” she said, searching for the right words. “Grafton is a great team, and we didn’t play as a team today.”