The William Byrd girls’ soccer team is headed to the state tournament. The
Terriers defeated Hidden Valley in a Region 3D semifinal game Tuesday to earn a spot in
Friday’s region championship, assuring them a spot in the Class 3 state tournament.
Byrd will play undefeated Cave Spring at 6 p.m. Friday for the region
championship. The game is scheduled for Cave Spring High but could be moved to Bogle
Field, behind Cave Spring Middle School, depending on the weather.
The Terriers were at Bogle Tuesday to take on Hidden Valley and came up big.
After playing 35 minutes of scoreless soccer Byrd drew first blood when Tayler Austin
assisted Bella Barrette, who scored over the keeper from outside the 18. Kendall Ranson
did the same thing two minutes later off an assist from Emma Milliron, giving Byrd a 2-0
lead at the half.
Ten minutes into the second half Ranson played a through ball to Mia Martin,
who beat the keeper on the front post to give the Terriers a 3-0 lead. Hidden Valley didn’t
give up at that point, keeping the pressure on and scoring on a penalty kick to cut the lead
to 3-1. However, that was as close as they would come as Byrd pulled off the big win.
The seventh seeded Terriers opened region play at home last week when they
hosted a play-in game against 10th seed Carroll County. Byrd dominated possession of the
ball, but the first goal did not come until 12 minutes were remaining in the first half when
Austin found Bella Barrette for a 1-0 lead. Logan Andrews gave the Terriers a 2-0 lead
five minutes later, then Logan found Maddie Barrette with three minutes remaining in the
half and that was all Byrd needed for a 3-0 win, advancing to the quarterfinal round on
Monday at Staunton River.
The Eagles came in as the number two seed in the region behind Cave Spring, but
the Byrd girls were up for the challenge. Ranson gave the Terriers an early lead off an
assist from Maddie Barrette only three minutes into the game. Staunton River tied the
score late in the first half and it was 1-1 at intermission.
The second half was played tight to the vest until Byrd was awarded a penalty
kick with 17 minutes remaining. Ryan Markham was fouled in the box and Bella Barrett
converted the PK to put Byrd back on top, 2-1. That proved to be enough as Byrd’s
defense shut down the Eagles with Bella Trumble in goal. Bella had seven saves.
The All-Blue Ridge District team was named in the past week and Byrd had two
first teamers, Bella Barrette at midfield and Karizma Wofford on defense. Second
teamers are Ranson at forward and Andrews and Maddie Barrette on defense.
