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By Dan Sousa
LoudounPrepSports.com Senior Content Editor
Ashburn (Mar. 12, 2009) - The Broad Run High School girls soccer team picked right up where they left off last season as the defending AA state champions opened their 2009 campaign with a 2-1 victory over 2008 AAA state runner-up Battlefield on a blustery evening.
Junior Rachel Tharp scored off a rebound in the 31st minute to break the ice and senior Kelly Evans, who scored 14 seconds into last year's state semifinals and had two goals as the Spartans defeated Hidden Valley 4-1 and then went on to beat Courtland 1-0 to wrap up a perfect 24-0-0 season, added what turned out to be the game-winner four minutes later. Both goals came after throw-ins, the first by senior Amy May and the second by Val Powell, who will play at the University of Arkansas next year. Evans will play at Old Dominion next year.
Broad Run lost just two players from last year's state title team and already have five players that will be playing college soccer next year. Since the current senior class entered Broad Run almost four years ago, the team has compiled a 64-6-1 record with two of those defeats coming in the AAA state quarterfinals in 2006 and 2007.
"We do have a target on our back this season ... but these girls are ready for it," said Broad Run coach Claire Collins. "They put the pressure on themselves and they love it."
The Spartan defense and senior keeper Caitlin Hunter, who will play at UNC-Wilmington next year, made the 2-0 lead stand up and the Bobcats didn't have a lot of offensive threats until they picked up the tempo in the final 15 minutes and junior forward Sahar Aflaki scored in the 76th minute to make the final minutes interesting.
"The last 15 minutes we started to click. We actually had a little switch.We took a player out of midfield and put one up top," said Hilton.
While the Spartans, now on a 25 game winning streak and having won 45 of 48 since the start of 2007, have a senior-laden team with eight seniors total, Battlefield does not have any seniors on a roster that includes six juniors, nine sophomores and one freshman.
Battlefield coach Kevin Hilton was impressed with the play of Spartan senior midfielder Holly King, one of the top players in the state and bound for the University of Florida next year. King and the Broad Run midfield helped the Spartans control the pace of play most of the evening.
The Spartans scored the first goal on an May throw-in just off the left corner flag. She got the ball up in the wind and Evans, surrounded by three Bobcats, was able to get her head on the ball. The ball bounced off the arm of a Battlefield defender right to the feet of Evans, who quickly moved in on the keeper and took a shot that was pushed to the left. Tharp charged in and rammed the ball into the back of the net before it could squirm over the end lline.
The second Spartan goal came after a long throw-in by Powell that glanced off a header just inside the 18 to Evans who was just onside on the right side. She briefly battled with a Bobcat defender to gain possession of the ball and then beat the Battlefield keeper with a quick shot to the near post.
"There is a lot of pressure, but I definitely think we are going to step up to the plate," said Evans about the expectations that the Spartans can repeat as state champions. "We like each other, we have great team chemistry again."
Aflaki's goal with four minutes remaining on the contest came as she broke free down the right side of the Spartan defense. Hunter was coming out to cut down on Aflaki's angle when the Bobcat forward took a well-placed low shot to the far post that tucked into the side of the net for the goal.
Free Kicks: Dominion High School boys basketball coach Steve Douglas made his debut as the Spartans JV girls soccer coach with a 2-0 victory. While he does have a Darbie and a Danielle on the team ... there are no DeAndre's ... Each year Collins likes to have a theme for the Spartans ... and each year we try to figure out what it means ... this year the theme was "76" (an no ... it does not have anything to do with "Music Man") ... the parched Spartan field may be renamed the "Dust Bowl" if it doesn't rain soon.
Girls Soccer
Broad Run 2, Battlefield 1
BF 0 1 - 1
BR 2 0 - 2
Scoring: BR 31st minute Tharp (Evans, May); BR 35th minute Evans (?, Powell), BF 76th minute Aflaki.