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Photos by DON PETERSEN | Special to The Roanoke Times

Salem's Brooke Drew (left) absorbs a tackle attempt by Lord Botetourt's Sara Poole on Wednesday.

Photos by DON PETERSEN Special to The Roanoke Times

Above: Salem's Brooke Drew (left) absorbs a tackle attempt by Lord Botetourt's Sara Poole on Wednesday. Below: Salem's Molly Satterfield celebrates after scoring her team's first goal during the first half of the Spartans' Group AA quarterfinal victory over the Cavaliers.

All season the Salem girls' soccer team has been wearing its goal on its warmup shirts.

"Back to Glory," the shirts read. The Spartans won the Group AA state championship back in 2003 and hadn't been back to the state tournament again until this year.

Lord Botetourt would like to sample a little glory itself. The Cavaliers, too, hadn't been to state in five years. This season has already been their best ever, but thanks to the Spartans, Lord Botetourt's glory days will likely be at least a season away.

Salem outshot the Cavaliers' 14-1 on their way to a 3-0 victory Wednesday in the Group AA quarterfinals on a sweltering 90-degree day on the Spartans' home artificial turf.

Salem next heads to Radford University, where it will play Courtland in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday.

Wednesday's game had been delayed a day by severe storms that rolled through the area on Tuesday.

"We just had to keep our focus," said Salem's Molly Satterfield, who scored two goals. "We kind of regrouped. Coach reiterated to us that we had to keep the ball rolling."

That wasn't as easy for the Cavaliers, who lost a good chunk of their fan support and some of their momentum, according to coach Jamie Bednarek.

"Last night, we were really pumped up," Bednarek said. "When you get on that emotional high, it's hard to get up there again."

On the whole, the Spartans (18-4) were both bigger and faster than Lord Botetourt, taking maximum advantage of the smooth turf field. There was even a wee bit of rough and tumble with Salem's Taylor Davis netting a yellow card.

Botetourt midfielder Kelsey Meador headed out a shot on a Salem corner kick just five minutes in.

Satterfield scored her first goal 8¹₂ minutes in on a breakaway when Megan Kennedy fed the ball forward and Satterfield ran it down, then beat Botetourt keeper Kristen Brogan one-on-one.

With just a few seconds remaining in the first half, Kim Elmore scored on a pass from Claire Sexton to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead.

Bednarek shuffled his players a bit and changed his formation, trying to get something going offensively. Botetourt didn't have a shot in the first half.

Brittany Dickerson, who'd been a defender in the first half, moved up to the front line in the second and was the only Cavalier to put a shot on goal.

But the Spartans continued to pressure the Botetourt goal, missing just high and just wide on several times before a corner kick by Kennedy was redirected by Sexton to Satterfield for another goal with 24:25 left to play.

Brogan made six saves for the Cavaliers (18-4).

"We wanted to show Salem what we were, and we didn't get to show them all the way," said Dickerson, a junior.

"We didn't play one of our best games of the season," Bednarek said, crediting Salem for much of that. "But this is the best seasons we're ever had going 18-4. And we only graduate two."

Salem's pursuit of glory lives on, at least until Friday. And if this season should end there, the Spartans too, have only two seniors on the roster.