“We came into this game feeling like we had something to prove. We got it done.”
Those were the words quipped by Alleghany boys soccer coach Jose Aragones after the Mountaineers’ 3-1 victory over visiting Northside in the first round of the Blue Ridge District tournament.
Tanner Seay led the Mountaineer offense with two goals on the day, while fellow sophomore Patrick Burns rounded out the scoring.
Alleghany dominated play for a majority of the first half but were unable to find the back of the net until Seay scored his first goal on a rebound in the 25th minute. The score remained the same at the half.
Ten minutes into the second half of play Seay netted his second goal of the night to stretch the Mountaineer lead to 2-0.
Northside scored their only goal of the evening in the 57th minute. Burns quickly answered with a goal of his own for Alleghany just eight minutes later to reach the 3-1 final.
Sophomore keeper Stephen Taylor, playing on a dislocated knee, had 9 saves in the second half for the Mountaineers.
He finished with 16 for the game.
Alleghany advances to the semifinals of the Blue Ridge District tourney with a match-up with #1 seed Lord Botetourt.
“We need to play at our best to beat Lord Botetourt but we are definitely capable. We should’ve had them last time at home but we can use that as motivation now,” Aragones said.
A win over the Cavaliers would guarantee the Mountaineers a spot in the Region III tournament. A loss would send the team to the consolation game and into a win-or-go-home situation.
The game will be played at William Byrd on Wednesday.