Central Region wash out

VIRGINIA BEACH - Rain fell on Thomas Dale's parade in the opening quarterfinal of the Virginia High School League Group AAA field hockey tournament yesterday at the U.S. National Training Center.

Then, a deluge stopped the Maggie Walker Governor's School-Lake Braddock game in the first half of the second quarterfinal.

"It was pouring so hard we had a delay in the game. There was at least an inch of water on the turf," Maggie Walker coach Paige Hawkins said. "Seriously, the ball would not move there was so much water."

The Green Dragons trailed 3-0 at the time. They bounced back, but Lake Braddock held on to win 3-2.

"We scored the first one on a corner, and it changed the whole game. We were more confident," Hawkins said. "It was back and forth the rest of the game. It was awesome."

Thomas Dale, the Central Region champion for the third year in a row, played well against Northern Region runner-up Westfield but lost 2-0.

"We were pretty evenly matched. They were able to convert goals," Knights coach Beth Jaeckle said. "We couldn't finish, and that was frustrating. We had a couple of good runs [in each half], but it was hard to come back."

Westfield (20-4) and Northern champion Lake Braddock (22-1) moved on to today's semifinals. Thomas Dale finished 19-1; Maggie Walker 16-5.

Westfield ------------------------- 1 1 - 2
Thomas Dale ------------------------- 0 0 - 0

W: Molly Gitt, Ameera Ahmadieh

Saves: Nicole Ficarra (W) 2; Savanah Cummings (TD) 6

Maggie Walker GS ------------------------- 1 1 - 2
Lake Braddock ------------------------- 3 0 - 3

MWGS: Katelyn Daughtery; Deirdre Gill

LB: Brodner 2, Gambefcia