For Kellam coach Mario Hurdle, the catalyst for winning the Virginia AAA state girls soccer championship wasn’t on the field, but in the minds of his players.
Mentally, and in the end physically, the Knights outlasted Lake Braddock to win the first state title for a team outside of Northern Virginia in 21 years, 2-0, at Christopher Newport University on Saturday evening.
“I guess we’re pioneers,” said Hurdle, moments after getting doused with ice water from his jubilant players. “Were we underdogs? Maybe in other people’s eyes we were. But you know what? We were undefeated, and we earned respect tonight.”
Hurdle said the Bruins took his team lightly. Lake Braddock coach Liz Pike said her team — which struggled through a rash of injuries — was simply outfought by Kellam. “There’s no excuses. It just came down to fight, and Kellam came out fighting a little stronger than we did.”
That was evident early in the game, on a play that set the physical tone for the match and left the Bruins even more shorthanded then they were entering the championship. Senior midfielder Cassi Lynn of Kellam tackled Lake Braddock sophomore Stephanie Hylton from behind, and earned a yellow card. Hylton came off the field with a hip injury, and was basically inactive for the rest of the match.
“She hit me from behind,” said Hylton, though tears on the Lake Braddock sideline after the loss. “It should have been a red card. I didn’t see it coming at all.”
Hurdle said the intention was not to play dirty.
“Maybe we sent a message with the foul. It was a hard foul. I don’t think it inspired us, but we knew we had to step up.”
THE TEAMS PLAYED to a scoreless tie in the first half. Lake Braddock star Lindsay Bowers nearly had the game’s first tally early in the second, but Kellam keeper Lauren Tupman was able to fist the ball over the crossbar.
After the Bruins failed to convert the ensuing corner kick, Kellam went on the counterattack. Junior defender Brittany Gloshen made a great run down the right sideline, beating a Lake Braddock defender and getting some space to make a pass. Her sister, sophomore Tiffany Gloshen, noticed she was uncovered in the midfield. “I sprinted to the 18 [yard-line], and my sister crossed it,” she said. “I saw the keeper come out, I stepped aside, and finished the ball.”
Tiffany Gloshen’s goal with 17 minutes, 56 seconds left in the game gave the Knights a 1-0 lead. But Lake Braddock wasn’t about to go home quietly.
“After they scored that goal, it was all offense for us,” said Bowers. “We had two people most of the time on the counterattack.”
One sequence with just under seven minutes left in the game nearly tied it. A shot by Bruins forward Diana Bain went off the post, and then the rebound shot forward Aline Le went high.
About two minutes later, Kellam iced the game. A brilliant play at midfield by senior forward Jordan Holway got her in on goal practically all alone. The Bruins keeper Katie Frode came out to play the shooter, but Holway passed the ball to a wide open Sean Jackson for the goal and a 2-0 lead with exactly 4 minutes left in the match.
“I didn’t think she came out at speed [on the first goal],” said Pike of Frode, “by the second one…it’s a one-on-one. She’s gotta make a decision, and whatever she did was what she thought was best.”
After that, the clock ticked down, the whistle blew, and Kellam has captured the first AAA state title for a team outside of Northern Virginia.
“They’ll never forget this moment as long as they live,” said Hurdle.
The Bruin lose three senior from this year’s squad, most significantly Lindsay Bowers.
“At the beginning the season, we had a hard time getting things together,” she said. “But right at the regional tournament game, we started to.”