Migliarese leads Salem over Northside in soccer quarterfinal
The Salem captain’s header sends the Spartans on toward their goal of a Group AA state title.
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Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Any coach will tell you that come state tournament time one of the most important intangibles is experience.
And state tournament experience is exactly what Salem soccer captain Kim Migliarese brought to the Group AA quarterfinal match with Northside Tuesday night.
Never mind that the relevant experience was in a different sport.
Migliarese’s header off a Brittany Shampine corner kick in the 69th minute proved to be the winning goal in the Spartans’ 2-1 victory. Salem (17-3-2) advances to meet Woodgrove in the state semifinals that will be played at 4 p.m. Friday at Radford University.
Migliarese was a starter on Salem’s state championship basketball team three months ago. What kind of advice does she offer her soccer teammates?
“It’s not necessarily the most talented but the team that wants to win [a state title] the most,” Migliarese said. “If we have the guts and the heart, we can do it.”
Migliarese has been coming through in critical situations a lot lately. Her goal Friday afternoon helped Salem edge Blacksburg 2-1 in the Region IV championship and earn a home match Tuesday against the Region III runner-up Vikings. Salem had beaten Northside (13-7-2) twice in the regular season, but those one-goal victories (2-1 and 1-0 five days apart) were in mid-March, early in the season. Both teams have improved markedly since then, their respective coaches agreed.
“We sat down about three weeks ago and made our goals,” said Salem coach Josh Jones, who led the Spartans to a state title 10 years ago. “One of those goals was to make it to the state semifinals.”
The Spartans have not lost a match since setting that goal.
The teams played to a scoreless halftime Tuesday. The Spartans were the aggressor early in the second half, with Shampine scoring at the 36:14 mark.
“Hannah Winstead flicked it to me in front of the net, I settled the ball and kicked it with my left foot,” Shampine said. Her boot found the lower right hand corner of the goal, beyond the reach of Northside keeper Kelsey Altizer.
“Our girls came out hard and battled all second half,” Jones said. “I’m proud of the way they found to do something special.”
About 20 minutes later Northside tied the game , the Vikings’ goal coming on forward Emma Wade’s kick from almost 30 yards out. Her missile sailed over Salem keeper Carrie West’s outstretched arms. It was Wade’s 97th goal of her career.
“Except for the fact that it wasn’t a game-winner, I can’t think of a better way for Emma to go out,” said her coach Corey Fobare, a 2005 Northside graduate himself. “It was a classic Emma Wade goal. You give her six inches of space and she’s going to punish you.”
But the momentum pendulum swung again. At the 11:13 mark, Shampine and Migliarese combined for the winner.
It was similar to Friday’s game when Migliarese converted Shampine’s corner kick late in the second half to erase a Blacksburg 1-0 lead. Salem won that game on a corner kick from Hannah Rich that Winstead converted into the game-winning goal.
“We knew corner kicks were their bread and butter,” Fobare said. “That’s what you can expect from a Josh Jones team. We preached that to the girls since Friday and we did a good job defending [corner kicks] tonight until the last one.”
“There’s something special about this [Salem] team,” Jones said. “It’s been a roller coaster year, like they all are, and [ultimately] it’s all about how you respond to the downs. This team has responded well.”
1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County
2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day
3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
4. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football
5. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping
6. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen
7. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust
8. WOYM: Fewer stinkbugs? You may have wasps to thank
9. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
10. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible
THE ROANOKE TIMES
