LYNCHBURG — Dominion High’s girls soccer team opened its 4A state semifinal match against Tabb by putting two quality shots on goal in the opening minutes, including one that caromed off the right post.
It seemed as if Dominion, located in Northern Virginia which has a reputation for some of the best soccer in the state, was poised to run away with things early.
But the Tigers, many of whom rushed back from their noon graduation at William & Mary Hall an hour before game time, did not back down.
Instead, they battled courageously through 80 minutes of regulation and seven minutes of overtime before the Titans put their 21st shot of the night in the back of the goal to earn a dramatic 1-0 overtime victory in the 4A state semifinals held Friday at Liberty University’s Osborne Stadium.
“Some of my girls are heartbroken,” Tabb first-year coach Kelle Shiflett said after the match. “Especially the seniors. But they played their hearts out, and as a coach, I can’t ask for anything else.”
The Tigers’ fearless effort gained the utmost respect from Dominion Coach Mike Reles, who labeled Tabb the most organized group he has ever seen and said frustrated his team more than any this season.
But that’s not what they came for.
“We’re proud of the way we played, but we came into this knowing we had a chance,” said Tabb senior Rachael Brewer, a defender who will play at Christopher Newport University. “We believed we could play against these Northern Virginia teams and I think we showed it, but we’re going to walk off this field knowing we could have won and that we had our chances.”
After Dominion, particularly speedy sophomore forward Breanna Mitchell, produced a handful of threatening chances early, the Tigers, behind vocal leader Brewer, clamped down and became more physical against the Titans’ bigger attackers.
The chances were few and far between in the first half for Tabb — senior Katie Herold booted the Tigers’ first shot of the game in the final two minutes — but its bend-but-don’t-break defense kept them in it and the game scoreless after 40 minutes.
“We believed in ourselves all along, but after that first half we knew we had it in us to get the win,” Brewer said.
Similar to the start of the match, Mitchell, who has 26 goals to her name this season, broke away down field in the early stages and was one-on-one with Tabb keeper Erin Ott. Ott, though, who was magnificent in goal all game, made a great deflection to knock the ball away.
The ball remained on Tabb’s side of the field for most of the second half, but Ott, Brewer and Co. continued to bear down and keep the Titans out of goal.
Dominion had two close calls on corner kicks, but 6-foot-1 Amanda Valenzuelai, the clear target on each of the Titans’ corners, sent her header wide on both attempts.
With a little more than eight minutes left in regulation, Tabb’s Leah Tyson sent an arching shot from deep that curved just wide of the left post. The shot, which caught Dominion’s keeper off guard, may have gone in had it been a few inches right and proved to be the Tigers closest shot of the match.
Roughly five minutes later, Sam Erickson sent a left-footer toward goal that was deflected by a Dominion defender.
With the score still knotted at 0-0, the teams took the field for two five-minute overtime periods.
Neither side produced a real threatening chance during the first five minutes, but two-and-a-half minutes in to the second, Mitchell finally broke through with a game-changing play.
She dribbled down the left side of the field drawing much of the attention from Tabb’s defense before slotting a pass to a wide open Kayla Abel in the center of the box. Abel spun to get herself in position and fired the game-winner into the left side of goal.
Tabb scrambled to find the equalizer during the final two minutes, but never got off a shot.
When the horn sounded, many of Tabb’s players dropped to the field in tears.
Shiflett quickly reminded them they were the first girls soccer team in Tabb history to make a state semifinal.
Senior Erin Fenton, a two-sport standout for Tabb, reflected back on what she called “easily” her most memorable high school sports season.
“This is by far the best of my four years,” Fenton said. “We had eight seniors but we also lost eight from last year, and I think our new coach brought a new atmosphere and new drive to the team and it made us all really want it.”
Brewer echoed Fenton’s thoughts on the season.
“It sucks it has to end like this, but this is the best team I’ve been on in four years,” Brewer said. “To get as far as we did, it’s a blessing. I wouldn’t trade this team for anything.”
Shiflett talked about her team’s effort Friday and the Tigers’ historic season in the video interview above.
