Girls soccer: Cox already looking to next season

CHANTILLY

The Cox girls soccer team knew it had to play flawlessly if the Falcons were going to have any chance at beating Stone Bridge, the nation's No. 2 team according to an ESPN poll.

And for the first few minutes, the Falcons looked impressive. But Stone Bridge eventually got rolling and won 4-0 in the Group AAA state semifinals Friday night at Westfield High.

Stone Bridge (20-0-2) will meet Crosby at 3 p.m. today in the championship game. The Bulldogs, who have won 14 consecutive games, will be going for their first Group AAA girls soccer title. They won a Group AA title in 2005

Cox (21-2-1) was trying to advance to its third state final in the past five seasons and win its first girls state soccer title.

But Bulldogs coach Joan Kelso Windows said she knew what to expect from the Falcons.

"We know they have Jessie (Klamut) up top and Lauren (Muncy)," Windows said. "We also knew which numbers we were marking. And we've been reading a lot about them, that they have come out strong the last couple of games and scored in the first couple of minutes. Our goal was to come out strong and sort of do what they do and it worked."

Stone Bridge freshman Ashley Herndon got the Bulldogs going when she scored inside the left post at the

3:50 mark of the game. About four minutes later, freshman Murielle Tiernan scored off an assist from Emily Fredrikson.

"They are fun to watch," Windows said about her freshmen. "They work well together and do a good job of playing off each other and knowing where each other are. On top of that, (senior) Jennifer Skogerboe controls the midfield. She serves the ball to them and makes it easy for them."

Cox coach Michele Clark tried to rally her team.

"At 2-0 you're still in it," she said. "I told them to be patient and play."

The Falcons, though, couldn't answer in the second half as Herndon added another goal - her 27th of the season - seven minutes into the half. Two minutes later, Melissa Rodriguez scored to end any chance of a comeback.

"They just came after us at the whistle, and they did an outstanding job," Clark said. "We actually started the game well and then we gave up that one goal and that hurt us. And that one fed them a little bit."

Many of the Falcons said the game will only make them better next season.

"We will grow from it," said Klamut, who had nine goals this postseason but didn't score on five shots Friday. "We still have our whole team coming back except for a few seniors. But it's still a let down that we come this far and we don't play our best game."

Larry Rubama, (757) 446-2273, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com