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NORFOLK — One Cinderella story continues and another stalled — momentarily — at the Class 5 Region B soccer championships Friday night at Powhatan Field.
Fifth-seeded Maury edged No. 2 Menchville 1-0 in the girls final, while top-seeded Menchville thumped No. 3 Norview 3-0 in the boys matchup.
Millie Darden scored seven minutes into the first half to lift the Commodores in the girls game.
“I was making a run and (the ball) went over (the defense), so I went around the player,” Darden said. “It was just me and the goalie, and I made a little tap-in toward the corner of the goal and got it.”
It was the fifth goal of the season for Darden, a senior who missed the previous season due to ACL and meniscus injuries to her knee. She also had the lone goal in the upset over top-seeded Granby in the semifinals.
“She’s a fast runner and she’s got a good little chip-touch,” Commodores coach Orion Hall said. “The last two games, she’s been really hitting her stride. We’ve been pushing that through-ball and she’s basically gotten the winner in the past two games.”
Maury played poised throughout the rest of the half and ushered in a lead at the break.
“It always calms you down,” Hall said. “We preach that we want to get up early and get that confidence built up.”
Less than 10 minutes after the restart came Menchville’s best chance at equalizing. A long ball over the top provided a breakaway for forward Caylyn Candia, who powered past the Commodores’ defense and ripped off a shot that keeper Lili White blocked. Menchville’s Alora Chappell corralled the rebound and tried to push a secondary shot past White, but she smothered the attempt in her arms.
“That was honestly me just flailing my body for whatever piece of the ball I could get,” said White, who has committed to play for James Madison next year. “It was definitely scary — I was shocked I got to that ball.”
Added Hall: “Having her back there is huge. The two saves, I don’t even know how she got to that second.”
Menchville then flailed at another goal attempt with less than 16 minutes remaining. Alyssa Ware streaked across the top of the penalty area and found Caitlyn Hollis, who sliced a shot just right of the goal — White had cut off the angle with both arms outstretched.
“You always know that she can do it (come up with big saves),” Hall said. “She doesn’t always have to do it, but when it comes down to it, that keeps your defense from worrying about mistakes. Mistakes are going to happen, but having her back there as a shield is incredible.”
Both teams advance to the Class 5 state quarterfinals. Maury will play Kellam, while Menchville will face Region A champion First Colonial.
In the nightcap, Zach Robinson opened the scoring with a snapping header less than 10 minutes in off a corner kick from Grady Morello.
“I’m pretty tall, so I waited at the back post and the ball came through,” Robinson said of his height advantage over the smaller Pilots. “I just put my head through the ball.”
The Monarchs fully wanted to exploit the size differential between the teams by playing deep and controlling possession. Toward the end of the first half, though, Norview, which is having its best season in school history with its first region final appearance, started to mount some pressure in the Monarchs’ half.
Leon Edwards blasted an ambitious shot from around 35 yards on the left side of the field that curled away late with less than eight minutes remaining in the half. Four minutes later, Keith Deloach drove in toward the goal by the right side of the end line and fired in a searching ball to earn a corner kick. He then collected the ensuing corner kick, but wasn’t able to connect on a shot with power. Edwards found the rebounded ball and swung another shot high over the bar.
“It was sticking to our game plan, we knew they were going to try and dump it a little more — they like to kick the long ball and they’re good at it,” Monarchs coach Bryce Fail said. “We just sat in a little bit, won those and tried to keep it a little more and eliminate them from having the ball.”
A minute later, a deep pass released Robinson on a run into the Norview box. He was fouled, and the referee signaled for a penalty kick.
“I ran as hard as I could, tried to shoot the ball and just got taken out,” Robinson said.
Christian Robertson’s first effort was blocked by keeper Joe Fernandez, but the rebound fell right back to Robertson, who didn’t miss a second chance to give Menchville a 2-0 lead going into halftime.
Two minutes into the second half, Morello sent in another corner kick that the Norview defense could not clear. Tristan Klompenhouwer pounced on the loose ball and knocked it into the net to put Menchville up 3-0.
“It’s a pretty big win,” Fail said. “We wanted to get the regional trophy back — next step is states.”
Menchville will face Region A runner-up Cox in next week’s state Class 5 quarterfinals.
Fail added it would be the school’s first victory at the state tournament level if the Monarchs win. Norview, which also qualified for the state tournament for the first time, will face off against Region A champion Great Bridge.
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