Dukes, Islanders earn spots in finals
Gloucester, Poquoson post shutout wins, but York drops semi
Gloucester and Poquoson play for state championship trophies Saturday. They will have to beat familiar foes to secure them.
Gloucester returned to the Class 5 championship game for the first time since winning the state title in 2015 with a 2-0 win over Stafford in the semifinals Friday at South County High in Lorton.
Poquoson earned a spot in its first-ever Class 3 final with a 2-0 win over Tabb in the semifinals, also at South County.
Gloucester (21-0) will face Richmond-area school Deep Run, which beat Mountain View 2-1 in overtime, for the championship at 2 p.m. at South County. That game will be a rematch of last year’s state semifinal, which Deep Run won 3-2.
Poquoson (19-2) will play defending champion James Monroe of Fredericksburg, which beat York 2-1 in overtime in the other semi, for the championship at 10 a.m. at South County. The Islanders lost to the Yellow Jackets 3-0 earlier this season after losing to them in the state semifinals the previous two seasons.
Class 5
Gloucester 2, Stafford 0: HP Johnson put the Dukes ahead with a goal in the first half on an assist from Kessa Romero. Allison Goodwin scored the second-half goal.
“We pretty much controlled the tempo by moving the ball around, and had 17 shots on goal to their one,” Gloucester assistant coach Joe Dougherty said. “Overall we’re pretty happy.”
Class 3
Poquoson 2, Tabb 0: Poquoson scored a goal in each half to beat Tabb for the second time this season. Samantha Grimes scored both, getting an assist from Sydney Baggett on the second-half goal.
Tabb (14-6) missed reaching the final for the first time since 2013 and for only the second time in the past 11 seasons. The Tigers have won seven state titles in the past decade.
They fell short despite solid defensive efforts by goalkeeper Bella Klekar, Abby Heckler, Hayle Hackworth and Madison Kurek.
“It was good to make it this far and we fought hard, but it wasn’t the outcome we wanted,” Tabb coach Lindsay Olson said. “We have only three seniors and a lot of young kids we brought up, so we’ll be back next year ready to fight.”
James Monroe 2, York 1: Playing in its first state semifinal, York took a lead nine minutes into the second half on Vivian Pope’s shot from the top of the circle on an assist from Cassie Watts. But James Monroe retaliated with a goal almost immediately, and the score remained tied at 1 into sudden-death overtime.
The Falcons (17-4) almost won in overtime on a shot by Sarah Farrell that missed by inches. As they did in the second half, the Yellow Jackets responded immediately, scoring the goal that sent them into the final for the fourth consecutive season.
“I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of this team,” York coach Dani Waters said. “This team showed tremendous growth and we went the furthest we’ve ever gone.
“We have a fantastic senior class that showed great effort and attitude, and continued to battle to the end.”