Suffolk News-Herald

Lindsay Cutchins, Katelyn Smither and Stephanie Owen all scored in a seven-minute period as Lakeland caught fire early in the second half to take a 4-0 win from Kecoughtan in the opening rounds of Eastern region competition Tuesday at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. At 1 p.m. on Thursday, the Lady Cavaliers will battle Princess Anne (which has beaten them by one goal each of the past three years) for a chance at their first-ever trip to the state tournament.

With seven minutes to play in the first half, Ashley McCord smacked a corner stroke out to Smither at the center of the circle. Smither brought the ball into the circle and dropped a pass off to the right for Owen, who smoked a shot across the left. McCord deflected it into the upper-left corner of the net.

Lakeland’s hot streak began three minutes into the second half. Smither brought the ball in from the right side and shot a pass to Becky Salmon on the end line. Salmon dribbled toward the goal, then slipped a quick pas to Cutchins in the center for the second goal.

Less that three minutes later, the Lady Warriors had the ball in the Lakeland circle. A pass nearly went out of bounds, but Lindsay Kelly caught up to it and snapped a pass to Smither on the right sideline, just on the Lakeland side of the field. Smither slipped past one defender, outran another, and hurried across the center of the Kecoughtan circle. Just as the ball seemed to be getting away from her, Smihter dove forward, landed on her stomach, and back-slid the ball into the Lady Warrior goal.

But Lakeland still wasn’t finished. Just under nine minutes in, Smither dribbled to the right side of the Kecoughtan circle, and ran into a few Lady Warrior defenders. The ball skittered across the circle, where Owen waited. She knocked a grounder through a mass of defenders, and it found a way just inside the left post of the Lady Warrior goal.

&uot;I was just trying to get the ball back into scoring position, to the corner,&uot; Owen said. &uot;We were able to pick it up in the second half and make the passes count. Our games are only going to get harder, but we can do it.&uot;

In a later game, Gloucester held off Nansemond River 2-1. Ashley Aston’s second goal cut a 3-1 lead in half with a goal at the 9:27 mark, but the Lady Warriors were unable to knock in another score.