Leesburg, VA (May 26, 2022) - Coming into this championship match, the tournament had been wild. Full of upsets, #1 and #4 had been eliminated by the fifth-seeded Broad Run Spartans, who found themselves surprisingly in the final against third-seeded Loudoun County. The Captains really weren't supposed to be here either, but they had earned their spot in the title game, too, and they had beaten the Spartans in a head-to-head matchup, 2-0, just one month ago, to have an extra advantage.
Chas Sumser Photography was there to capture the action and emotion and posted a gallery of images from the game.
At the beginning of the game, the ball was mostly on the left side of the Loudoun County offense, but that didn’t really result in anything that was threatening to Broad run keeper, Mara Dufour.
Play gradually moved more central as the Spartans earned more possession. The best two chances of the half came when Broad Run's Isabella DiTommaso struck a 30 yard free kick that County keeper Evy Schweiker had to deflect out of bounds resulting in the only corner kick of the half for either side. The corner was cleared by the Captains defense, and the half ended with play going back-and-forth in the middle third with few additional surges.
In the first half, neither team had much of an edge, but that all changed very quickly as the second period began. Immediately pushing into the County end, Broad Run's Mia Casciani found a loose ball at the top of the penalty area and crushed it into the left corner of the net just three minutes into the second half. Now leading 1-0, the Spartans continued to press, keeping the County defense on their heels for the next ten minutes.
But just when it looked like it was all going Broad Run's way, the Captains earned a free kick from forty yards out on the right side of the field. Up stepped Taylor Simmons who proceeded to launch a perfect arcing shot that creased the back of the Broad Run net and tied the score.
For the remainder of the second half, both teams had great chances to take the lead, but no one could finish. And with the outcome still unknown the teams headed into overtime.
The first overtime was scoreless, and so, too, was the second extra period. That is until Casciani found herself about twenty-five yards out with virtually no time remaining. She struck a low, twisting ball that skipped past and eluded Schweiker for the win and the district championship.
Final Score: Loudoun County 2 - Broad Run 1
