A day after using a dominant second half to pull away from Christiansburg in the State Semifinals, the Meridian High School boys’ soccer team was right back on the field seeking the biggest prize of all. Their opponent would be the Warriors of Western Albemarle, who are located in much closer proximity to the game’s setting of Fluvanna County High School in Palmyra, but the Mustang faithful did an outstanding job of negating any home crowd advantage by coming out in full force on this scorching Saturday.
On the field, both teams appeared evenly matched in the early going, and Addison Turner was forced to make a couple big stops to keep Meridian from falling behind. The Mustangs had their chances as well, including two huge ones that did everything but find the back of the net around the midway point of the first half, and finally with just under 14 minutes left in the period, some gritty work by Etornam Amenyah set up Amin Shams to drive it past Western Albemarle’s goalkeeper.
Meridian would maintain the 1-0 edge into the break, and then the Mustangs wasted no time with their fresh legs when play resumed as Fletcher Saaty, the Northwestern District Player of the Year, blasted a shot into the net off of a feed from Suriyan Cushman less than two minutes into the half to double the advantage. Western Albemarle got one back just past halfway through the frame, and continued to see quality chances in the moments immediately afterwards as Turner was forced to come to the rescue with a series of saves once again. But with the finish line in sight, the Mustangs found another gear to close this one out and prevented any hopes of a tying goal, winning 2-1 in a hard-fought battle.
The victory gives Meridian its fourth state title in the past eight years, and really in seven years because the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19. It’s the second in three seasons for head coach Nathan Greiner, the Northwestern District Coach of the Year, and it completes an emphatic turnaround after the Mustangs experienced a down year by their standards in 2024. After going 9-9 and missing the State playoffs a season ago, Meridian finishes 17-2-2 with 16 straight non-losses to close out the campaign.
When asked what was the biggest key to the team’s success, Greiner did not hesitate. “Senior leadership,” he said, speaking of his squad’s 14 graduating members. “After last year, they were determined from day one to make it the goal to get to June 14th.” Greiner also credited Western Albemarle’s resilience after going down 2-0, knowing they weren’t going to make it easy for Meridian especially after having lost in last year’s State Finals.
All in all, the victory puts the icing on the cake on what was another thrill ride of a year for Mustang athletics. In the winter, the boys’ basketball team went 27-1 with their only loss coming in the State Semifinals, while in the springtime, two additional teams – boys’ lacrosse and girls’ tennis – made it to that same round. The boys’ soccer program has been perhaps Meridian’s proudest in recent times, and they delivered once again by sending their school off into summer break with a championship trophy.
