Cox, Hickory reach Region boys soccer final

NORFOLK

Familiar foes will meet once again in Friday’s boys soccer Eastern Region tournament final at Powhatan Field.

Jordan Griggs poked in a goal in the eighth minute to lead Hickory to a 1-0 victory over Kellam in Wednesday’s early semifinal. The Hawks advanced to the championship match for the first time in the school’s 12-year history.

“This is their game – this is their effort,” Hickory coach Eric Blackmore said of his players’ performance. “It’s just awesome to be a part of it.”

Ryan Oakes scored twice as Cox rolled 3-0 over Grassfield in the nightcap. That game was dictated by the Falcons’ style of stringing together slick passes around the pitch.

“We wanted to win because we knew a loss could end the season,” Oakes said. “We didn’t want that to happen – we wanted to dominate.”

Both winners qualify for next week’s Virginia High School League Group AAA state tournament.

In the first game, Jake Jones headed a ball past Kellam keeper Kyle VanWerkhoven to help set up Griggs’ goal to give the Hawks (14-4-1) an early advantage.

“Jake won the header and flicked it on,” Griggs said. “I saw it beat the keeper and took it off my chest and put it in.”

Kellam (17-2-2) then kept testing the opposition’s defense, but was repeatedly thwarted before halftime. The Knights kicked it into another gear after the second-half whistle, though.

Kellam forward Jordan Grumney blasted in a cross from the right side that Hickory keeper Andrew McMillan swiped away from a streaking Alex Feliciano five minutes after the restart. Derek Danner made an instinctual clearance seconds later.

“I don’t ever remember,” Danner said. “We just knew to keep the ball clear of our own box.”

A minute later, Cole Scheper drilled a 40-yard shot that McMillan got a finger on – enough to cause the ball to bounce off his right post.

Hickory’s biggest scare came with less than eight minutes remaining as Ryan Curtis appeared to have scored the equalizer, but the goal was disallowed after Grumney was judged for hand ball in settling the pass to Curtis.

“They came at us hard in the second half,” Hawks defender Lukas Miller said. “We knew we had to come together and hold it out.”

In the second game, Cox (17-2-1), which has knocked Hickory out of the region tournament the past two years, dominated ball possession but was held scoreless through the first half – despite holding a 10-7 shot advantage.

The flood gates opened with a three-goal barrage during a 24-minute span in the second half. Oakes touched a goal in at the left post, following a cross from the left by Paul Braunstein that was headed back across goal by Hunter Byrnes in the 53rd minute. Chris Albiston’s free kick from the left banged in off the post and into goal in the 70th minute. And Oakes added a third with a simple flick after a defender for Grassfield (14-5-1) knocked a ball past his keeper.

“There’s no knocking anybody out of the tournament now,” Falcons coach Scott Mead said. “Hickory has been to the region tournament 11 times and now makes it to state for the first time. That’s a testament to their program. The goal for us is always to play in the state tournament.”

Eastern Region semifinals

Hickory 1, Kellam 0

G—Griggs.

Cox 3, Grassfield 0

G—C, Oakes, Albiston.