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Foxcroft Advances to VISAA Division II Final for Third Straight Year
Top-seeded Foxcroft got a goal from junior Alex G. with 27:08 seconds remaining
and a key save from sophomore goaltender Marley B. with 9:02 seconds left to hold
off upset-minded Virginia Episcopal, 13-12, Friday and advance to the final of the
VISAA Division II tournament for the third year in a row.
Foxcroft will play the winner of No. 2 Highland and No. 3 Nansemond-Suffolk for
the championship Saturday at 1 p.m. on the campus of Randolph-Macon University
in Ashland, Va.
Foxcroft is the defending Division II champion, but for much of the semifinal match
it hardly resembled a championship team as poor passing, lack of hustle on ground
balls and loss of key draws killed several scoring opportunities.
“We sure didn’t look like a championship team,” Coach Patrick Finn said. “We were
outhustled the entire game. We were beaten a lot on the draws and our play on
ground balls was very poor. It was frustrating to watch. It was John Wooden who
said, ‘talent wins a championship; character makes you repeat.’ We’re still building
our character.
“Virginia Episcopal (the No. 4 seed) was better than we thought. We hadn’t played
them since last year. They had some quality players. It is very difficult to repeat as a
champion. We’ll have to see if we want it badly enough.”
Despite Finn’s frustration, Foxcroft did have its heroines. Senior Emma R. scored a
goal every time Foxcroft needed one, especially in the second half when she scored
six times, including five in a row during a span of 7:35. Emma’s five-goal barrage
lifted Foxcroft from a 10-7 deficit to a 12-11 lead with 4:42 to play.
Emma, a VISAA all-state selection last year, finished with a season-high eight goals
but the team’s leading scorer during the season, Alex, the VISAA Division II Player of
the Year in last year’s tournament, scored three times and assisted on two of
Emma’s goals. Alex’s game-winning goal came on a leaping shot from the right side
of the net after she had outraced her defender from the left side and behind the net.
Juniors Malan J. and Pipsy S. scored the other goals for Foxcroft, but it was two stops
by Marley – her only two saves of the game – in the final 1:17 that saved the game
for Foxcroft.
Marley, who was pulled from the game by Finn and replaced by Marias B. with 2:35
left in the first half and VES leading 7-4, did not start the second half. But she
returned after VES boosted its lead to 9-5 and made a stick save on a bouncing shot
from in close with 1:17 remaining and the score deadlocked at 12-12. She then came
up with the biggest save of the game with a catch of a free shot with just 9:02
remaining.