Patton’s goal lifts Cougars to win

Patton's early goal lifts Collegiate past Godwin in girls soccer

Becky Patton scored so quickly that spectators at the Collegiate-Mills Godwin girls soccer game hardly had time to settle in their seats or get a comfortable lean against the fence.

Patton plays for Collegiate, ranked No. 3 in the latest Times-Dispatch Top 10. She is a prolific scorer and was honored as the T-D girls athlete of the week for that skill.

The only goal in the 1-0 contest came in the third minute yesterday at Collegiate. Then the Cougars (13-2) went into a managing-the-lead mode.

Try as they might, the second-ranked Eagles couldn't get the ball in the net.

"We haven't had difficulty finishing this year. This week we didn't finish," Mills Godwin coach Ali Toole said.

Mills Godwin (8-2-1) also lost 1-0 to Atlee earlier this week. That defeat knocked the Eagles, the reigning Central Region champions, out of No.1 in the T-D poll. Midlothian slipped into No. 1 but lost to Cosby Thursday.

Collegiate, the reigning VIS state champ, could be No.1, but rankings don't mean much to either team. The quality competition the teams get from this game is beneficial to both.

"It's such a long rivalry. They play on the same club teams. I remember Ali when she was the goalie at Godwin," Collegiate coach Bill Rider said. "It's such an important game for the kids for neighborhood bragging rights."

Said Toole, "The emotional element is the same as a postseason game. Everything is on the line. It's a charged-up game."

The Cougars played superb, middle-clogging, man-marking defense and thwarted each Mills Godwin opportunity. The Eagles just missed a header off a corner kick late in the first half. They came agonizingly close to a tying goal in the final two minutes.

"We stayed tight in the middle and beat them to the ball," Collegiate sweeper Ally Koonce said. "This was our last chance to play a quality opponent to see what we can do. We've beaten Deep Run [in overtime] and we've beaten Godwin. A game like this proves what you can really do."

The Cougars begin postseason play next week with the LIS tournament.

The Eagles return to Colonial District action with key games against Deep Run and Douglas Freeman coming up. They hope to get injured players back for the stretch run. Kelsey Carter, who scored both goals in the Eagles' 2-0 win over Collegiate in April, and forward Meghan O'Neil have been sidelined.

"The injuries have taken away from our team speed and depth," Toole said. "We needed to play wide to open [Collegiate] up. Did it work? No. We didn't have that extra burst."

Contact Arthur Utley at (804) 649-6559 or .

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