By Drew Costley
George Mason High School’s girls varsity soccer team beat Clarke County High School 4-1 on Tuesday. As a result, the Mustangs and Eagles are tied for first place in the district with records of 13-1. They will play a tiebreaker game at John Champe High School tomorrow night with major post-season advantages going to the winner of the match.
Head Coach Jennifer Parsons said her girls “knew they had nothing to lose” going into the game on Tuesday night.
“But we knew we had to win it in order to force a tiebreaker game on Thursday,” Parsons said.
Despite there being so much at stake, neither team scored in the first 20 minutes of the match. Then junior midfielder/forward Claire Trevisan scored her first goal of the night. Parsons said the score “settled” the Mustangs down.
“Clearly Claire is a leader on this team and she’s a fantastic player,” Parsons said. “I think Claire’s work ethic can be a little contagious and I think when she goes 100 percent she really pulls a lot of players with her to play on that same level.”
Sophomore forward Ava Roth put the Mustangs ahead 2-0 five minutes later by scoring off of a pass from Trevisan. This was the final score of the first half. The Eagles scored the first goal of the second half at around the 50th minute. Trevisan answered with her second goal of the night five minutes later to put the Mustangs ahead by two again. Then five minutes later, she scored again with a header to put the Eagles away. Sophomore forward Mary Keenan assisted with two of Trevisan’s goals and Roth assisted with one.
Parsons said sophomore goalkeeper Katie Cheney was a key player in addition to Trevisan and Keenan. She had 16 saves against the Eagles, including a key save in the first half.
“I mean we had a couple good chances to score, but Clarke probably had the best first chance. They got in on a breakaway,” Parsons said. “And Katie came in and stopped the breakaway which I think was huge for her and for the team – not giving up that first goal.”
Parsons spoke recently about games when the Mustangs are able to run up the score and dominate possession, which doesn’t allow Cheney many opportunities to learn from playing at game speed. The Mustangs game against Strasburg High School last Friday was one of those games. They beat the Rams 8-0, but Cheney finished with two saves.
Trevisan scored four goals and had one assist against the Rams. Freshman midfielder/forward Ella Howard scored twice, sophomore midfielder Jessica Gemond scored once, and Roth scored once and had two assists in the match. Junior midfielder Camille Rice, freshman midfielder/forward Corinne Carson and freshman defender Annie Washa had one assist each in the match. Another defender, senior Hailey Thomas, assisted with two goals on what was senior night – the last regular season home game for senior Mustang players.
“Hailey is definitely a player who – I don’t think she gets the spotlight or all the stats or anything like that but she’s someone we rarely take off the field,” Parsons said. “And she’s very essential to our team winning. She’s like the glue between our offense and our defense.”
The Mustangs only scored two goals against the Rams in the first half, which Parsons attributed to a lack of effort on the girls’ part. Throughout the season, she has spoken to her team about playing with the same intensity level against every opponent despite the opponent’s talent and skill level.
The Rams and the Eagles are nearly at opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to district competition. The Rams have been outscored 15-1 by the Eagles this season.
The Mustangs and Eagles will be playing for top seed and home field advantage in the district playoffs and an automatic bid as a number one seed in the regional playoffs.
