Monacan's Hunter Cheatham (center) had little breathing throughout the match. Cosby's Patrick McDaniel (left), Noah Davis (right) and Chris Lyne surround him here.
James River's Nate Shiffman tries to get past Midlothian's Stephen Landry in the Rapids' 2-1 victory.
by Seneca Contomanolis
DigitalSports Richmond
scontomanolis@digitalsports.com
PHOTOS: Dominion District SemifinalsThe impressive boys soccer played in the Dominion District was on full display Wednesday night.
All four teams participating in the district tournament finished ranked in the
final DigitalSports Top 10.
Top-seeded
Cosby defeated
Monacan 4-2 in the first semifinal at Clover Hill High School.
James River, the second seed, hung on to beat third-seeded
Midlothian in the nightcap 2-1.
The Titans and Rapids will meet Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the finals. James River topped Cosby last season in the title match but the Titans beat them twice this season.
Cosby, ranked second, had their offense clicking right from the start on Wednesday and led 4-0 in a contest that featured some rough play.
Their defense was just as strong, limiting district player of the year
Hunter Cheatham's chances, and allowing only two goals late once starting defenders
Colin Fitzpatrick,
Chris Snegon and
Patrick McDaniel and goalie
Sean Stowe had been taken out.
"High pressure, we take care of everything," Fitzpatrick, a senior, said. "Keep pressure on Hunter and don't let him turn."
Fitzpatrick had two goals but those came after senior midfielder
Ben Jessee and junior forward
Nick DeProspero put the Titans (16-1) ahead 2-0.
Jessee slipped through the defense and scored 14 minutes into the match off a
Chris Snegon assist. Four minutes later Jessee set up DeProspero inside the box for his goal.
"We wanted to go forward tonight," Cosby coach
Mike Anderson said. "We didn't have any pressure because we had already advanced to regions. It was a good night to do that."
Fitzpatrick scored his first goal six minutes after halftime off of a corner kick that
Bryan Hughes headed downwards, deflecting off of Fitzpatrick's foot. He added his second at the 18:30 mark on a penalty kick.
Mike Anderson was honored between the matches as the district coach of the year, his ninth time winning the award. He won his previous eight with Clover Hill.
Mike Anderson guided the Titans to the state semifinals last season and to their first regular-season crown this year.
The Chiefs, ranked ninth, finish with a record of 11-6 and were ranked as high as fourth early in the season after starting 6-0. Coach
Sean Hollingshead will look for his team to comeback hungry next year.
"I'm encouraged because we played so many guys, we regularly played 18 guys over a course of a game," Hollingshead said. "We are in a position for other guys to step up and take graduating players positions. And that's what they will have to do."
Third-ranked James River (13-3-1) clinched a spot in the Central Region tournament by defeating the No. 8 Trojans (10-6-1).
The defending district tournament champs went up 1-0 on a
Jack Baxter score at the 23-minute mark of the first half. The goal came immediately after Midlothian midfielder
Franklin Escobar nearly put the Trojans ahead with a shot that went off the cross bar.
Five minutes into the second half
Garrett Dayton found the back of the net for the Rapids on a nifty volley shot from just outside the box.
"I saw the ball pop up and it was just kind of floating in the air and I was like, 'I might want to hit this,'" Dayton said. "I just wound up, swung and luckily it dipped over
Ryan Taylor [Midlothian goalie]. He's a great keeper. It was nice shot I guess, kind of lucky, but it felt good."
The contest remained 2-0 until Trojans midfielder
Evan Jones blasted a shot past James River keeper
Jordan Junot with 9:28 left in the game but Midlothian could never come up with the equalizer.
"I thought we slowed it down too much," Rapids coach
Eric Schlueter said. "We are a better team when we are a faster team. We slowed it down and Midlothian got back in it."
Monacan 0 2 - 2Cosby 2 2 - 4M: Gomez, Okelana
C: Fitzpatrick 2, Jessee, DeProspero
Saves: Youngblood (M) 7; Stowe (C) 2, Wann 2
Records: Monacan (11-6); Cosby (16-1)
Midlothian 0 1 - 1James River 1 1 - 2M: Jones
JR: Ja. Baxter, Dayton
Saves: Taylor (M) 9; Junot (JR) 7
Records: Midlothian (10-6-1); James River (13-3-1)