Published: November 02, 2009 10:29 pm      

Quick spurt

Concord advances in WVIAC

ATHENS — The Concord Lady Lions soccer team took advantage of a brief “freshman moment” by a young Alderson-Broaddus defense in Monday’s playoff opener, netting two goals in a 90-second span and advancing to the semifinals of the West Virginia Conference soccer tournament by a 2-0 score.

The Battlers from Philippi held a statistical advantage, but each time they had a scoring chance, something went awry. On defense, A-B was tops in the league, posting six shutouts and allowing just 11 goals in 16 games.

Until the 72nd minute on Monday.

A freshman Battler was whistled for yanking the jersey of Kate Armentrout during a Concord offensive push. That gave senior Katie Cuviello a free kick, and Nicole Dirnagl broke out of a scrum in front of the net, tapping in the first goal of the match with 17:30 left to play in the second half.

A little over a minute later, the CU defense sent the ball back Cuviello’s way. From about 30 yards out, she booted a shot that sailed just beyond the left hand of goalkeeper Kate Laird for the 2-0 lead.

Cuviello said, “Everybody was working, from the back to the top. They got me the ball.” Asked about the Battlers’ physical defense, she said, “They were strong. They were tough to get by, but we found a way.”

Concord coach Carol Bonnes said, “A beautiful shot from Katie out wide. That’s a hard one for any goalkeeper to take.”

Alderson-Broaddus coach Pat McGinnis said, “It was our 90 seconds of ‘freshman moment.’ ” With the entire team consisting of freshmen and sophomores, he said, “We knew. We were waiting for a ‘freshman day.’ ”

The A-B effort was “outstanding,” said Bonnes. “They’re a very, very good team, very young. It was a great performance on their behalf. … If ever there was a team for an upset, that was the team that could have brought it. We’re just lucky we were able to get through them.”

“I think we kind of lulled into the game for awhile, and we didn’t play with a purpose,” she said. “We didn’t look to distribute from the back, and our offense tried to play too much. … We needed to possess from the back, get the ball through and look to the goal and take our opportunities.”

The first half was scoreless. About 10 minutes into the game, Brooke Logston of Alderson-Broaddus (12-4-1) fired a shot that deflected off Concord goalkeeper Kacey Hilldebrand, hit the crossbar of the goal, and bounced away.

The Battlers’ top goal-scorer, Kasie Shoemaker, tracked it down, and the home crowd gasped as she got off a shot. The ball sailed over the bar and out of play. A few minutes later, Gwen Brand’s point-blank chance also popped over the goal. It was that kind of day for the visitors.

Concord (11-6) had to play most of the half without starting midfielder Elin Torstensson, who limped to the bench with a recurrence of a right leg injury. She returned just after the first goal was scored.

Bonnes said, “She struggled. She came out six minutes into the game. The only thing that got her through today was determination and her hunger for the game. We were glad to get her back in.”

She said Dirnagl’s work while Tostensson was sidelined will benefit the Concord cause. “That gives us a little bit more strength on the defensive side,” she said.

Bonnes said, “I’m really, really proud of the team’s performance.” McGinnis, too, was proud. “It’s been fantastic,” he said about the season. “They’ve performed like no other team I’ve ever been around. They’re just hungry, consistently hungry, and they feed off each other’s energy, over and over again.”

He was much less happy during the game with the officiating, and afterward with the outcome. He said, “I’ve never seen a box score so one-sided, yet we came out on the losing end of things. The corner kicks, the shots, the fact that we only had two saves the whole game. Just unbelievable. But, you know, it happens. … Sometimes the bounces don’t play your way.”

Concord will face the top seed in the tournament, Davis & Elkins (14-4 overall, 10-0 in conference) in a semifinal on Friday in Elkins.

The Lady Lions will play that game without leading scorer Gemma Nortcliffe. With 5.7 seconds left in Monday’s match, Nortcliffe ran into Laird and was assessed her second yellow card penalty of the day — resulting in an ejection which disqualified her for Concord’s next game.

Bonnes said, “Well, the good thing is, the goals are coming from everywhere. Gemma didn’t score today. …

Across the board, we’ve got those opportunities, and we’re just able to step out and look for a team performance, for victory.”

— Contact Tom Bone

at tbone@bdtonline.com