The Lord Botetourt soccer teams earned home field for the Region 3D semifinals last week and played a doubleheader before the home crowd. However, both teams went down to defeat and were eliminated from post-season competition.
The boys played first and lost to Cave Spring, 2-1. The eighth seeded Knights broke a 1-1 tie in the final four minutes to upset the fourth seeded Cavaliers. Botetourt had trailed early in the game but a goal by Dylan Salvi in a scramble in front of the cage tied the score, only to have Cave Spring score late and pull out the win. That ended Lord Botetourt’s bid for a third straight state tournament berth.
“Overall, I could not be more proud of this team,” said coach Tim Wright. “What I will take away from the season was witnessing leaders step up and be a positive influence to their peers, their coaches, and the program. You cannot quantify that, you cannot draw up a practice plan for that, and you sure as heck won’t see that in a win column. However, from a coach’s standpoint, this is what is best about high school sports.”
The girls put their undefeated record on the line in the second game and dropped a 5-2 decision to fourth seeded Hidden Valley. The Cavaliers, who were the top seed, saw their season end with an 11-1 record.