By ADAM REGAN
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Maggie Jones scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner in the 75th minute, delivering the Graham G-Girls a 3-2 victory over Martinsville in the first round of the Region IV Tournament Tuesday at Dan Green Memorial Stadium.
Jones humbled the Bulldogs early with a score off a Kelli Landreth pass in the second minute. Abra Sitler made it 2-0 for Graham (11-5-1) in the match’s 22nd minute.
Martinsville got one score back on a Jennfier Dotson boot in the 25th minute of play, and Graham held a 2-1 halftime lead. Natalie Evans provided the equalizer for Martinsville on a point-blank shot in front of the goal in the 56th minute.
Jones’ final goal came on a cross from Kristin Brown.
From clearouts to slide tackles, the Bulldogs hadn’t seen anything remotely close to Graham’s quick and talented game since their battles against the elite of Group AAA earlier this year.
The defense kept Martinsville standout Diana Van Nutt under wraps as she was met with swarms of physical defenders each time she attempted to make a run longer than two feet.
Graham coach Roger Mercke said, “They’re a possession team and we wanted to be aggressive and send defenders at them. We normally don’t play like that. They weren’t able to send a ball through, though. We were lucky.”
Martinsville coach Stacey Hamilton was forced to ask his team to mirror the opposition’s physical style but was unhappy at the amount of whistles that came as a result.
“Every time we tried to match their play we got called on it,” Hamilton said. “I don’t think the game was decided by the calls but I do think that we would have had more of a chance if they called the game even.”
The G-Girls advance to the Region IV semifinals on Thursday evening at East River Soccer Complex, playing Virginia High in a match scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
The championship is Saturday at 7 p.m. at East River Soccer Complex.
Boys Soccer
By ADAM REGAN
for the Daily Telegraph
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — In the eyes of the Martinsville Bulldogs, home-field advantage throughout the Region IV Tournament is both a blessing and a curse. The luxury of not having to travel is appealing but the thought of losing in front of their home fans puts the pressure on them.
Therein lies the rub.
The Bulldogs, however, took their first step to a regional title by knocking off Graham 4-1 in the quarterfinals Tuesday.
“The last thing we want to do is watch as two Southwest teams play in the finals on our home field,” Martinsville coach Pete Scouras said. “We’ve talked about that and the kids know that they have to work hard so that doesn’t happen.”
Martinsville relied heavily on the mental aspect of the game by attacking the Graham team, who traveled 3 1/2 hours for their shot at the Bulldogs.
“Home-field advantage in these games is huge,” said Scouras. “Last year, we had a nightmare of a draw with two games up in Abingdon. Home field gives us a great opportunity that we have to take advantage of.”
Sophomore midfielder Ian Loganadan’s one-timer that beat Graham keeper Chaz Cole most likely discouraged the G-Men, according to Scouras.
“It was nice to have that,” he said of the early goal. “It has to be tough for them to get right off the bus and played as hard as they can.”
The G-Men didn’t put their first shot on frame until the 32nd minute.
By that time the Bulldogs held a 2-0 lead following senior captain Josh Torrez’s header in the 20th minute.
It proved to be the game-winner as Martinsville won the possession battle and kept Cole’s attention with 14 shots on goal, including five that smacked the cross bar.
Scouras said, “When we have a lead, we’re not going to rest on our laurels. We knew each team that is in this thing is a good team and we’re going to need to score plenty to beat each one of them.”
After the sixth minute, Graham coach Hank Furry knew that it would be hard to make a comeback on the Bulldogs.
“They are a great team,” Furry said. “I think things would have been different if we could have gotten that first score and had them try to climb up the hill.”
Torrez found a spot in between the pipes in the 36th minute, corralling a loose ball in front of the net. Senior defender Justin Woolridge added the fourth goal on a strike from 10 yards in the 54th minute.
Graham captain Jimmy Prieto broke through for the G-Men in the 50th minute off of a Phil Mahood free kick from 25 yards out.
