Godwin girls overcome Oakton

SLIDESHOW: Godwin vs Oakton

Mills Godwin, boosted by a goal from Sarah Bellotti in the 51st minute, held off a furious counterattack after a lightning delay to defeat visiting Oakton-Vienna 1-0 in the quarterfinals of the VHSL Group AAA girls soccer tournament last night.

Mills Godwin will face Cox of Virginia Beach, a 3-1 winner over Forest Park (Woodbridge), in the state semifinals Friday at 4 p.m. at Westfield High School in Chantilly.

The "drama queens," as the Eagles' coach, Ali Toole, referred to them, didn't wait as late as usual to score the winning goal. Each of their three Central Region wins were the result of late scores.

Even though they struck relatively early this time, they won in their accustomed dramatic fashion, with goalkeeper Jessie Ashworth repeatedly tested in the final minutes.

For most of the game, the Eagles (17-3-1) seemed on the defensive. The first half was dominated by the Cougars (14-5). Mills Godwin struggled to keep up but managed to find a way to keep Oakton's ball out of their goal.

The beginning of the second half started with the Cougars on the attack, but the Eagles picked up the pace. Ten minutes into the second half, Godwin's Marie Krider got the ball deep in Eagles territory and took control.

"Marie Krider took the ball all the way down the field. She pretty much did a lot of the work," said teammate Becca Haislip, who was downfield near the right side. "She tossed it, and I just tapped it behind - because it was really quite cluttered in the middle - and I kind of tapped it behind the defender, and Sarah [Bellotti] just came right down the middle and pretty much placed it . . . placed it very nicely."

Bellotti's kick went low and to the right of Oakton goalkeeper Erica Stein with 29:43 left on the clock.

After the goal, the Eagles took advantage of their momentum, keeping the pressure on the Cougars' defense, but officials spotted lightning to the north with 15:28 remaining and halted play for a mandatory 30-minute break. When play resumed - and with a bit more than 90 seconds of penalty time added to the clock - Oakton attacked, but Godwin held firm.

"It doesn't come down to who's the better team, it comes down to who wants it more. They wanted it more than we did," Oakton coach Brooke Alexander said. "They showed a lot of heart."

Oakton ------------------------- 0 0 - 0
Mills Godwin ------------------------- 0 1 - 1

MG - Bellotti

Saves: O - Stein 7. MG - Ashworth 10.

Records: Oakton 14-5, Mills Godwin 17-3-1.