The 2018 Class 4 State Champion Blacksburg Bruins.
Blacksburg High School moved up a classification this season from Class 3 to 4, and Saturday the boys soccer team proved it doesn’t matter which level it plays on.
The Bruins took care of business, shutting out Grafton 6-0 to win another state championship at Roanoke College.
Coach Shelly Blumenthal said that winning another state championship was special and being undefeated left no doubt this team was most deserving.
Kade Wheeler and Sam Dickinson scored two goals apiece for the victory. The Bruins finished the season 22-0. They outscored their opponents 16-2 enroute to the title. The victory and trophy comes on the heels of three straight state runner-up finishes in Class 3.
“Following a penalty kick shootout and three heart breaking one goal losses (after the 2013’s state championship) in successive years was a motivation for our veteran players and coaching staff. It is rewarding to return the state championship to Blacksburg,” Blumenthal said.
Grafton recently defeated two top programs in Midlothian and Chancellor. According to the Blacksburg coach, with their counterattack style and decision to play so many players behind the ball, his team knew they would have to possess the ball, make them chase and attack wide.
“We were successful doing so and contained their dangerous forward and target man in the attack,” he said.
The team and coaches were welcomed home to a police and fire escort when they returned to the high school Saturday evening.
“We had a loose team with six sophomore starters who bought into the system. Our midfield was outstanding led by Captain Austin Bissell and was able to make opponents chase us. We had a balanced squad scoring and improved our defending from the beginning of the season,” Blumenthal said.
Blacksburg’s Austin Bissell looks over the Grafton defense as he advances the ball on Saturday.
Blacksburg downed Loudoun Valley 6-1 on Friday to reach the title tilt. Blumenthal brushed off the change in classifications. “We have a tradition of scheduling strong opponents at any level to prepare for post-season.
Excellent teams are at all levels and playing a variety of teams prepares teams to embrace several scenarios and challenges when it comes to post-season,” he said.
“We played in AA under the 3 classification system against many of the same teams, so there were some new names for our players to learn yet our coaches knew the competition. However, the team had confidence from the beginning and we played Class 4 and 5 teams for several years in our district with much success. Despite our youth, the guys were afraid of no one and embraced the challenge even though we are one of the smallest Class 4 schools,” he said.
The longtime Blacksburg head man was honored Monday as the region 4D’s coach of the year, and Austin Bissell was named player of the year.
Blacksburg placed three players on the first team (Bissell, Daniel Salom and Sam Dickinson) and a total of eight on the regional all-star teams.
The second team included: Bailey Prosser and Sture Forsman. Honorable mention included Blacksburg’s Kade Wheeler, Connor Cheynet and Alex Mills.
Meanwhile the Lady Bruins fell Friday 3-1 to Loudoun County in the state semi-finals. Blake Carroll scored the team’s lone goal.
Blacksburg forward Meghan Shelton takes a shot ahead of Loudoun County’s Lindsay Faules (left) and Mary Perkins.
Seven Lady Bruins were named to the All-Region squad. Skyler Prosser, Sarah Linkenhoker and Akaela Feng were first team, while Ashlen Burch and Blake were second team. Georgia Halkidis and Meghan Shelton were named to the honorable mention team.
The All-Region 4D baseball team was also released Monday with Blacksburg’s Luke Goforth being named to the first team as a utility player. Designated hitter Jared Madigan was named to the second team with honorable mentions including: Catcher Hunter Radford, outfielder Ryan Oosterhuis and pitcher Tyler VandeVord.