KFHS advances to IC final, earns regional berth
Published 10:09 pm Thursday, May 28, 2015
The King’s Fork High School girls’ soccer team accomplished much via its mercy rule-shortened 10-0 victory over Heritage High School in Wednesday’s Ironclad Conference tournament semifinal at Christopher Newport University.
“We got everything that we wanted out of the game, for sure,” Lady Bulldogs coach Mike Marston said.
Yes, King’s Fork clinched a regional berth and advanced to face rival Nansemond River High School in the conference tournament final for the second year in a row. But the Lady Bulldogs also made school history with their 14th win of the season, the most ever for a King’s Fork varsity soccer team — male or female.
“It just shows that all the work that they’re putting in is paying off,” Marston said of his players. “They’ve had a lot of success, but honestly, it was kind of a goal and expectation that we set for ourselves.”
The Lady Bulldogs won 13 games total last season, including the postseason, but reached 13 this year before the conference tournament, setting a regular season school record.
Though it might be hard to tell from its 14-2 record, King’s Fork has been limited this season by injuries. But Wednesday’s game against the Lady Hurricanes was the setting for positive news on that front, as well.
Skylar Wall, star sophomore center defender for the Lady Bulldogs, returned to action for the first time since injuring her ankle in a 1-0 victory against visiting Western Branch High School on April 21.
“We played her limited yesterday, but she played a decent amount in the second half,” Marston said on Thursday. “If she makes it through practice today, I guess she will be a full go, and I plan to start her tomorrow.”
Junior center midfielder Logan Montel also was back on the field after having sustained a concussion in a 3-2 win against host Tabb High School on May 13.
As a team, the Lady Bulldogs appeared sharp against Heritage.
“They played really well,” Marston said. “All of our opportunities were manufactured through hard work, connecting a bunch of passes.”
King’s Fork’s first goal came 11 seconds into the game.
It abandoned its usual opening play, and freshman Hannah Marston instead played the ball back to Montel, who immediately kicked a lofted ball over the Lady Hurricanes’ defense. Sophomore Cydney Nichols ran right onto the ball behind the defense and scored.
Coach Marston said when he asked the girls why they changed the play, they gave the right answer: “We noticed the defenders were playing a little bit too high.”
Senior Lindsay Ransome finished the game with a hat trick, while Hannah Marston and Nichols scored two goals apiece and senior Hannah Washburn, sophomore Rebecca Washburn and Montel each scored once.
“We got to play everybody on the team, so we got to see a few of the girls we brought up from (junior varsity),” coach Marston said.
Now comes the big showdown with Nansemond River in the conference tournament championship game. It is a rematch of last year’s final, which the Lady Warriors won 3-2.
But the Lady Bulldogs made history by defeating Nansemond River 3-1 earlier this season, and Marston is expecting the Lady Warriors to be out for revenge.
“Obviously, it’s something that they’ve definitely had circled on their calendar for a while,” he said. “We’re definitely going to get their best shot.”
“I would anticipate both teams are going to come out with adrenaline pumping,” he said, and he expects them to play hard until the end of the game, regardless of the score.
The two Suffolk teams clash for the title today at 5:30 p.m. at CNU.