Lord Botetourt outhustles Giants in region quarters

Intensity and drive were visible from only one side of the field on Tuesday as Lord Botetourt defeated Waynesboro 1-0 in the Region III quarterfinal round.
An early goal was all that the Cavaliers needed to see them through to the end of the game.
“This win was huge for us and that goal carried us through,” Lord Botetourt coach Glenn Hayman said.
Though both teams were evenly matched, the Cavaliers commanded the field with their hustle. The Little Giants lacked intensity up until the final five minutes of play.
“We clearly didn’t play our best game today,” Waynesboro coach Bill Meicke said. “I just think that our performance wasn’t up to what we could of done.”
Miscommunication and the inability to finish on offense was Waynesboro’s ultimate downfall. Lord Botetourt freshman forward Connor McBane’s goal at 27:05 in the first half didn’t help the mindset of the Little Giants much either.
“We just got tight and started thinking more about losing and less about playing,” said Meicke.
The Little Giants continued to get closer and closer to a goal but just couldn’t make the ball meet the net. Even if a Waynesboro shot got near the goal, Lord Botetourt’s junior goalkeeper Ben Eanes would immediately have the ball in his grasps.
“Ben had about five or ten game saving saves in the first half and a lot of the other guys didn’t realize until later that he had saved the game,” Hayman said. “From that, it just fueled our fire.”
The Little Giants made breakaways for the goal but the rest of the team wasn’t quick enough to follow up. The Waynesboro defense made few attempts to attack the Lord Botetourt forwards, but were still able to contain the strikes on goal. Little Giant goalie Jose Cruz had eight total saves whereas Cavalier goalie Eanes had nine.
As the clock ticked away the Little Giants realized what was in the very near future and made several desperate attempts at the goal, a few of which came close to making it but the Cavaliers remained calm and confident.
“I was really hoping that somebody would do something dramatic,” said Meicke. “But Lord Botetourt just controlled the play.”
Half the crowd rose in applause as the buzzer rang, dressed in red and white, while the other half sat and watched their boys’ eyes fill with tears.
Lord Botetourt will face the winner of the Turner Ashby and Amherst game.