Blacksburg proves a confident winner in Group AA soccer quarterfinal

BLACKSBURG — Not quite a week after escaping one Timesland team to keep advancing in the postseason, Turner Ashby came to Blacksburg hoping to keep the trend going.

The Bruins would have no part of it.

Blacksburg (19-0-3) scored two first-half goals and then held off the Knights to win Tuesday night’s Group AA tournament quarterfinals 2-0.

“The good thing is we’re advancing,” Blacksburg coach Shelley Blumenthal said. “And we know there are some areas where we can improve.”

Blacksburg will play Tuscarora at noon Friday at Radford University in the tournament semifinals.

In the first half of Tuesday’s match the Bruins came out charging and had the Region III runner-up Knights on their heels.

“It’s our first time playing a state game,” said Knights coach Sheldon Rice, whose team ended Lord Botetourt’s season in the Region III semifinals in sudden death overtime last week. “Some of our guys aren’t used to that.”

Veterans of the postseason, the Bruins looked calm in pressuring the Turner Ashby defense.

Just 10 minutes in, Geinda Smith found Sebi Brown, who touched the ball once then found the corner of the net.

“Geinda just threaded the needle with that pass,” Blumenthal said.

Just over 20 minutes later the Bruins struck again.

This time it was Garland Smith, who is not related to Geinda Smith, who set up the score.

Smith used some aggressive footwork to beat Knights defender Kyle Becker just outside the 18-yard box, then booted a pass toward the front of the goal.

“It was a hustle play by Smith,” Blumenthal said. “Work, work, work.”

Harrison Bankhead touched the ball past Knights keeper Matt Overacker

“I was trying to push him off,” Smith said of Becker. “There were two players in there and fortunately Harrison was able to get it in.”

Smith’s hustle was a big reason Overacker stayed busy.

“We came in with intensity, and that just set the tone,” Smith said.

Blacksburg had nine shots on goal to Turner Ashby’s four. The Bruins had many more shots sail just high or wide, and also had 11 corner kicks to the Knights’ four.

Overacker, who grew up in Roanoke County and played soccer locally before moving in 2007, said the match was his busiest as far as stopping shots in the box.

“But it’s like every other game and practice,” he said. “It’s fun for me because I like shot stopping.

“The defense did a pretty good job, but we just let a couple get through.”

Turner Ashby (16-3-2) adjusted at halftime and the Knights were able to put a little bit more pressure on the Bruins defense.

“I tried to get the guys to see that they can play with a team like that,” Rice said.

Three of Turner Ashby’s four corner kicks came during a 90-second span midway through the second half.

But the closest the Knights came to scoring was on a fluke play midway through the half when a long ball got over Blacksburg goalie Gillen Beck’s head.

Jose Martinez got to the ball but his kick went high and bounced off the underside of the crossbar and out.

“We had a couple of those things this year that just didn’t go our way,” Rice said.

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