The Shadow
Eleven players were enough.
So was one goal.
The Chargers from Bath County are headed to their first state girls soccer tournament.
Stephanie Gardener scored in the 16th minute and keeper Kassedi Estes stopped 18 shots, including a penalty kick down the stretch, leading Bath to a 1-0 win over Parry McCluer in the consolation match of the Region C tournament at Auburn High School Thursday.
The win moved the Chargers to 7-6-1 on the year and earned them a Tuesday trip to Elliston for a match-up against Eastern Montgomery in the first round of the first-ever Class 1 girls soccer state tournament.
The Mustangs (13-2) avenged their two regular season losses to Auburn with a 2-1 win over the Eagles in Thursday’s region title match.
“I don’t think it’s quite kicked in yet,” said Jillian Brown, one of three senior Chargers. “This has been my dream since eighth grade. I’m pretty ecstatic.”
Gardener’s goal, her 17th of the year, was the only score in a battle between Estes and Parry McCluer goalie Madison Fitzpatrick.
Gardener weaved her way though the Fighting Blues defense and beat Fitzpatrick top shelf, left side.
Parry McCluer made it interesting in the final 10 minutes.
An apparent score from Sierra Kirkpatrick was waved off by a foul with just over 11 minutes to play.
And just before stoppage time, the Chargers were whistled for a hand ball in the box, setting up a penalty kick.
But Estes turned away Maia Baldridge with a diving stop.
“We played them at home and she (Baldridge) did a penalty kick against me and she kicked it to the left of me,” Estes said. “So I knew she was going to the right side this time. Same kid, she scored on me the first time, so I wasn’t letting her the second time.”
With just 11 players dressed (no substitutes), BCHS coach Adam Frye said his group was holding on at the end.
“We held on for dear life,” Frye said. “Honestly, I’m going to give credit to the entire team. All 11 girls, everyone stepped up in one way or another.”
Jillian Brown, Faith Nichols, Emily Douglas and Ella DeBoe led the defense, Camden Smith, Alicia Schwallenberg and Kaitlin Arnold patrolled the midfield, Gardner, Fenia Skovira and Cadence Miller were up front and Estes was perfect in goal.
“Stephanie really helped create most of our offense,” Frye said. “I was very pleased that we still had opportunities (in the second half), but we ran out of gas. I mean, 11 players. We ran out of a gas, there’s no question.”
Lightning-quick freshman Jillian Wheelock led the Blues offensive attack, but the Bath defense had all the answers.
The shutout was the sixth of the year for the Chargers.
It was the Bath girls’ fourth win over Parry McCluer, three coming by shutout and three being by just one goal.
“Credit to Parry, that was the best that they have given us,” Frye said. “They tried all sorts of stuff.”
When the Chargers’ roster dwindled to 11 players recently, roles changed and increased for some.
None more than Smith in the midfield.
The junior controlled the action for much of Thursday.
“Cami Smith, she had a Charley horse in the first half and it carried over into the second half,” Frye said. “She was hurting horribly. The lack of numbers for us, yeah, that has forced her to do more. Alicia Schwallenberg has also picked up the slack. Now the last 10 minutes, she had nothin’ left, you could tell. But she kept chuggin’. They all kept finding that little bit of an extra gear.”
Skovira joins Brown and Estes in completing the senior soccer class.
“I didn’t think that we could have this opportunity because we only had 11 girls,” Skovira said. “Some of them quit, I didn’t think we could do it, but we did.”
Estes gave up softball for soccer two years ago.
Her high school athletic career will now end sometime next week at the state tournament.
“I’m excited,” Estes said. “I’ve been playing sports my whole life. We’ve always wanted to go to states. I felt like we were even better last year, but we just came up short. This year I’m so proud of all the 11 girls that stuck with it.”
“I’m so proud of these 11 girls,” Frye finished. “If you would have told me that we would actually make it (to the state tournament) back in March or February, I might have been like, ‘You want to put money on it.’ But we did it. I’m ecstatic.”
Class 1 State Tournament
The Chargers will be participating in the first-ever Class 1 state tournament.
In years past, Class 1 teams have been placed into the Class 2 bracket at the state level.
Bath County joins Eastern Montgomery, Auburn, Honaker, West Point, Rappahannock County, Stonewall Jackson-Quicksburg and Northumberland as the participants.
Honaker is the only school in Class 1, Region D to field a girls soccer team, opening the door for three Region C teams to qualify.
All four first round match-ups will be played Tuesday at home sites, with Radford University hosting the semifinals and championship matches next Friday and Saturday.
It will be a tough undertaking for the Chargers next Tuesday.
Eastern Montgomery (13-2) won both the Pioneer District and Region C.
The Mustangs have outscored their opponents this year 90-6, with four of those goals being scored by Auburn.
Bath County lost two regular season meetings to East Mont — 8-0 and 8-0 — and fell to the Mustangs 7-0 in the Pioneer District championship match.
——————————————————————————————
The Bath County girls soccer team celebrates their 1-0 victory Thursday over Parry McCluer at Auburn High School and their state tournament berth. Left to right: Coach Adam Frye, Jillian Brown, Faith Nichols, Ella DeBoe, Camden Smith, Kassedi Estes, Fenia Skovira, Kaitlin Arnold, Cadence Miller, Stephanie Gardener, Alicia Schwallenberg and Emily Douglas. The Chargers play at Eastern Montgomery in a state quarterfinal on Tuesday. (Photo Courtesy of Tiffany Gardener)
