Virginia Tech-Bound Players Key East Girls Soccer Victory

by Stephen M. Lewis
DigitalSports Richmond
slewis@digitalsports.com

NEWPORT NEWS - Kristen Carden and Carly Sullivan are both headed to Virginia Tech, but will play on different teams.

Carden, a standout goalie who just finished up a stellar career at Frank Cox, will play on the Atlantic Coast Conference team.

Sullivan, a Riverbend forward, will take classes at Tech, too, she'll just play on the club squad.

The duo with the unique connection helped the East top the West 4-3 in penalty kicks in the Virginia High School Coaches Association girls soccer all-star game Wednesday evening at Christopher Newport.

Fortunately for the East, Carden and Sullivan are fans of the penalty-kick portion of soccer, having been involved in numerous PK's this past season.

For the West, Robinson's Kristen Smith kicked off the scoring, going to the left of Carden. Meghan Dullea of First Colonial answered for the East, also going to the left of goalkeeper Ericka Troia of Hidden Valley to tie the PK period at 1.

Then West MVP Diana Wiegel of W.T. Woodson reached goal to the right of Carden, before Kellam's Brittany Michels answered for a 2-2 tie.

Then came Carden's biggest play of many biggies. Blacksburg's Mary Easterwood kicked right to Carden, who snatched the ball with two hands giving the East the upper hand.

"That's my favorite thing," Carden said. "I've never lost in PK."

Grafton's Lindsay Wicher slipped the next shot by Troia, who got a hand on the offering. East 3-2.

Then Westfield's Sarah Elliot went back to the left side, which seemed to be successful for both teams, to tie it at 3.

Sullivan answered for the East, again to the left, for a 4-3 lead.

Then Salem's Kendall Dishaw, maybe because so many players were going left, went right against Carden. But her shot went wide to give the East the victory.

"I had done a lot of PK's this season and in the district tournament," Sullivan said. "I think it was helpful going through it. It's nerve-racking. You've just got to know you're going to make it."

No one could make anything in the first two halves, partly because of bad luck, partly because of outstanding keeper play.

The East peppered Troia early with corners and nice crosses, but either missed high or Troia came up with a beauty of a save.

The West tried to go for the home run ball early, but settled down with crisp passing to metriculate the ball down the field. About halfway through the first half, they got Carden busy, but she was up to the task.

The second half was even tougher on the East defenders and Carden.

With only 13 available players (one no-show, one injury, one sick), fatigue became a factor as the West continued its strong passing to create plenty of opportunities. Again, they either missed or Carden came up with a save.

In one instance, the West had an apparent goal with six minutes remaining, but were called offside.

"We had one offsides goal that could have been disputed. I think we were unlucky on our shots," said Wiegel, who is headed to William & Mary. "The East keeper was great. I'm looking forward to playing against her again."

Carden and Sullivan probably won't play against or with each other again, but Wednesday's outing was one for both of their scrapbooks.

East 0 0 - 0
West 0 0 - 0
(East wins 4-3 on penalty kicks)