BOX SCORE

Doug Ripley – June 6, 2009

CHANTILLY – Midfielder Will Martin assisted on Cox’s two first half goals and tapped in a pair of his own goals in the second half as the Falcons (20-2-1) advanced to Sunday’s State Championship match by defeating the Northern Region’s Westfield Bulldogs 4-0.

The Falcons make it to the State Championship match for the first time since 1997 in their first 20-win season in program history.  It also marks the first time that an Eastern Region boys soccer team will play in the final since that same year when Kempsville defeated Cox.

First year head coach Scott Mead’s side nearly found itself down early though.  Westfield unleashed four shots at Cox keeper Jon Harris in the first 12 minutes.  Harris managed to come up with saves on the two balls the Bulldogs put on frame during that span.

The Falcons would make the Bulldogs (16-4-0) wish that they had capitalized on their numerous early chances for much of the rest of late Saturday night.

The scoring started for the Eastern Region Champions in the 14th minute when Eric Bird flicked a header down to Martin on the left flank.  The senior then took it toward the end-line, crossed it through traffic to Hunter Byrnes who tapped in his seventh goal of the season near the far right post.

Cox would further distance itself right before the half.  The Falcons unleashed a flurry of attempts toward Westfield keeper Kody Palmer during the 38th minute, beginning with a saved shot from Trey Saunders and an open follow by Bird that missed just right.

On the very next possession, Martin played another left side cross, this time started by a long ball played down the line by Bird.  The cross found the big toe of forward Paul Braunstein who gave Cox a 2-0 halftime lead against the host school.

The Falcons would continue to pull away from the Bulldogs in the second half thanks to a little ‘stick-to-itiveness’ from Martin.

His first goal came in the 61st minute after Matt Zackary’s left side shot deflected to him off the chest of Palmer.  Martin would then put away the Bulldogs for good in the 77th minute by running up the middle and beating Palmer in a 1v1.

Harris upped his postseason shutout streak to four matches while collecting nine saves for the Falcons.  Palmer finished the match with four saves for Westfield who was out-shot 23-17.