| DISCLAIMER: This is NOT an official website of the Eastern Region and its member schools, this tournament and its organizers, or the Virginia High School League. The purpose of this independent, not for profit site is to inform soccer fans in our community and high schools with the latest news, statistics, and other relevant information regarding this tournament. WEBSITE CREATED AND MAINTAINED BY DOUG RIPLEY - 2007 |
 |
| Falcons soar into finals over Hickory, 6-2 Martin brothers account for 11 points for Cox Doug Ripley - May 27, 2008 NORFOLK, Va. - Ten minutes into the opening Eastern Region boys soccer semifinal, electricity literally ceased to exist in the ODU Soccer Stadium. While Dominion Virginia Power worked over the next hour to restore power to the Eastern Region boys and girls soccer and baseball sites, the Cox Falcons did their darndest to try and light up the scoreboard with a strong offensive performance. When power was restored by the 60th minute, the Falcons were cruising on a 4-0 lead while the Hickory Hawks, energized at the opening whistle, picked up their intensity. The result: a two-goal explosion by the Hawks (13-6-0) in a 47-second span to cut the lead in half and force the Falcon starters to return to the field and re-assert itself with a pair of late goals, ending in a 6-2 Cox victory. The wild win moves Cox (17-2-1) into Friday's 7:30pm final and a berth in next week's Virginia High School League Group AAA Boys Soccer Championship, their third trip in four years and 17th under Jim Snodgrass who's completing his 26th and final season as head coach of the Falcons. One of Cox's three sets of brothers on the team made the most of this crucial match as Alex and Will Martin accounted for four goals and three assists Wednesday. Will Martin provided the key touch in the Falcons' first goal in the 14th minute, finding Caleb Thomas near the left post. He immediately paralleled the ball across the goal mouth to Hunter Byrnes who poked in the go-ahead goal. 14 minutes later, the Falcons struck again on another double-assisted goal as Ryan Oakes made a deft first touch into space in the left flank to spread the Hickory defense. Oakes found Will Martin near the end-line who tapped it to his wide-open brother for the finish. Cox would score once more before the break as Eric Bird short tapped the ball to Stephen Mein who slammed home his first touch. Will Martin's second goal then came in the 55th minute to seemingly put Cox out of reach for good off a in-box cross from Caleb Thomas, taking a couple touches to draw Hickory goalkeeper Andrew McMillan's attention before chipping the ball over his head and into the center of the net. Snodgrass would empty his bench soon after. At this point, the Hawks stepped up their play and, with a high-footed 70th minute goal by Cody Merkes off a midfield cross from Ryan Ketchmark on the right side, immediately seized some momentum. One person who had momentum on his side at this point was David Meadows who, on the Hawks' next possession, found just enough space to crack a beauty from 25 yards away that not even world-class keepers could stop. Feeling the swing in pressure, the Falcons returned much of its starters including goalkeeper Matt Harkins to the pitch who, after re-energizing and finding its touch, took back control of the match in the 76th minute with a Will Martin far-post finish off a diagonal ball from Alex Martin. Cox would cap off the impressive scoring with an 80th minute run up the middle by Alex Martin who passed two defenders into open space before placing the ball past McMillan into the net. The Falcons held a 19-7 shot advantage over Hickory with McMillan picking up four saves. Harkins and reserve Mark Nankervis each recorded one save for Cox. |
 |
| MATCH SUMMARY 2-6 CLICK HERE FOR FULL BOX SCORE Total Shots Shots on Goal Saves Corner Kicks Fouls Offsides YC-RC |
| Hickory HAWKS (13-6-0) |
| Cox FALCONS (17-2-1) |
| 7 4 (McMillan) 4 1 11 0 0-0 |
| GOAL SCORERS 70:14 - Merkes (Ketchmark) 71:01 - Meadows |
| GOAL SCORERS H. Byrnes (17,10) - 13:01 A. Martin (10,19) - 27:27 Mein (Bird) - 34:18 W. Martin (Thomas) - 54:53 W. Martin (A. Martin) - 75:35 A. Martin - 79:58 |
| 19 10 2 (Harkins 1, 9 Nankervis 1) 10 3 0-0 |
 |
 |
