CHARLOTTESVILLE 鈥 Blacksburg spent nearly 70 minutes dominating possession and coming within inches of finding the back of the net in Saturday afternoon鈥檚 Class 4 boys soccer championship game.
Those close calls prevented the Bruins from seizing control. Jamestown capitalized in the 70th minute and made the opportunity hold in a frantic final 10 minutes.
Max Cooper scored off a rebound in the 70th minute for the match鈥檚 lone goal as the Eagles held off the Bruins 1-0 to claim the state championship at Monticello High School.
Blacksburg鈥檚 Alex Doyle leaps for a header during the Class 4 final on Saturday against Jamestown at Monticello High School.
The loss prevented the Bruins (19-3) from adding to their VHSL-record 13 state championships.
鈥淭he result does not define who we are and what this season is all about,鈥 Blacksburg coach Shelley Blumenthal said. 鈥淎 19-3 record and state runner-up in our classification, down to the final two, we played like champions.鈥
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Cooper, who has signed to play at William & Mary, was in the right position on a throw-in in the 70th minute. Blacksburg appeared to have the ball cleared, but it deflected around the box and Cooper was able to deliver a shot past Bruins goalkeeper Nathan Pratt.
Blacksburg goalie Nathan Pratt (in orange) reacts after Jamestown scored in the Class 4 state championship Saturday.
It was the Eagles鈥 lone shot on goal in the second half. They also had several close calls over the final 40 minutes, but Pratt and his defense made plays to keep Jamestown (18-2-1) off the board.
鈥淭hey finished an opportunity that we didn鈥檛 clear on the long throw-in, and when you give Max Cooper, who is William & Mary bound and has scored now 34 goals, it鈥檚 hard,鈥 Blumenthal said. 鈥淩eally, I thought we contained him most of the time, but he got that one chance and he finished it on the second ball off their long throw-in.鈥
The Bruins had chances over the final 10 minutes to score the equalizer, but Jamestown goalkeeper Nicholas Robertson and his defense came up with plays to keep Blacksburg from finding the back of the net.
Blacksburg's Craig Huxtable leaps over the Jamestown goalkeeper during the Class 4 state championship Saturday at Monticello High School.
鈥淔irst of all, they鈥檙e a very strong team overall, obviously, but defensively, that鈥檚 one of the things that they spend a lot of time on, and they concentrate on, and I think they pride themselves on,鈥 Blumenthal said.
鈥淎nd, again, when you have a couple of special players like they do to count on, you can play more people behind the ball.
鈥淚 do think we played pretty well, and we just didn鈥檛 finish.鈥
Blacksburg had a corner kick in the 75th minute and Jackson Gabriel got a clear shot on a header, but the ball hit the top of the crossbar and bounced out of bounds.
It was one of several close calls for the Bruins.
鈥淲e did have our chances. I thought the goalkeeper saved Craig (Huxtable) early on a nice shot, nice save.
鈥淲e had probably two or three other ones that we just missed getting to,鈥 Blumenthal said.
鈥淏rendan (Osebre) had one right in front of the goal that he didn鈥檛 see until the last second, it looked like, and he hit it with his left foot just wide.
鈥淎gain, I can鈥檛 be more proud of a group of young men to accomplish what they accomplished with as much as we lost over the past two years to get to this moment. Just a tremendous effort, and kudos to Jamestown, a great team.鈥
