The Gloucester High School field hockey team is once again headed to the Group 5A State Tournament. The Dukes earned a spot in the state semifinals with their 2-1 win over Princess Anne in the 5A South Regional semifinals on Tuesday at the River City Sportsplex in Midlothian.
Gloucester was down, 1-0, at the half but came back with two goals in a strong second-half performance. Brittany Romero scored first for the Dukes with an assist from Cassidy Goodwin on a corner to tie the match. With 10 minutes remaining, Karly Harwood hit the go-ahead goal with an assist from Bri Greene.
“It was an exciting game. It was the first time we’ve been down all year,” said Gloucester coach Mike Miller. Despite a first-half goal by Princess Anne, Miller said that his players dominated the opening half. In the second half, his girls just bombarded the opponents. “We put a lot of pressure on them. I think we just wore them down.”
Gloucester will face Deep Run for the regional title this evening at the River City Sportsplex.
The Dukes beat Maury, 2-0, on Monday in the regional first round as they adjusted to playing on the artificial turf in the sportsplex. “We pretty much controlled the game, but we missed a lot of shots. Maury did a good job of controlling the ball and had a good passing game, but not many shots on goal,” Miller assessed. Greene scored with an assist from Romero and Cheyenne Hollandsworth scored with an assist from Harwood.
Prior to the regional tournament, the Dukes shut out Menchville, 7-0, last Thursday to earn anther Conference 10 crown. “They (Menchville) only had one shot on goal. Our pressure worked great,” Miller said. The game ended midway through the second half due to the mercy rule.
Harwood and Romero each had two goals against the Monarchs, and Maddie Hutson, Hollandsworth and Goodwin scored. Goodwin also contributed a pair of assists and scoring assists were provided by Hutson and Romero.
The state tournament is scheduled to begin Nov. 13 at the Field Hockey Regional Training Center in Virginia Beach.