Augusta wins 1st State Cup match

STAUNTON — The Augusta FC under-17 girls red team won its first ever State Cup match on Saturday afternoon, defeating Loudon.

Augusta scored three goals in the first half and held off a Loudon rally in the second to pick up a 4-2 win on its home pitch at the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind.

In addition to being the team’s first win in State Cup play, it was also its first time playing in the annual soccer tournament that feeds into the Region 1 and national soccer tournament.

The win on Saturday will send Augusta to the third-seeded Richmond Kickers on Oct. 3.

Augusta started the match strong scoring three goals in the first 30 minutes of play. Augusta’s first-half keeper, Holly Wenger kept Loudon from scoring first after tipping a shot from the corner. Loudon’s Taylor Boucher tested Wenger again, but the keeper again denied Loudon a marker.

Ten minutes later, Lindsay Suyes struck gold when her shot floated into the corner of the net putting Augusta up 1-0.

Suyes went for a second goal minutes later, but her header missed. Erin Burford made the heads-up play, charging the net and cleaning up the errant shot to put Augusta up 2-0.

With less than 10 minutes to play, Suyes scored her second and final goal of the match. Suyes’ first shot bounced off the crossbar, but landed right back in front of her and she slipped it past Loudon’s keeper.

Loudon began to show signs of life in the final five minutes and carried that energy into the second half. According to State Cup rules, once a player subs out of the game, they are not allowed to reenter for the rest of the half, making coach Paul Lightner keep his starters on the bench.

“We came out strong to take a 3-0 lead,” Lightner said. “One of the difficulties with State Cup is their rule with subs. It adds a lot more strategy and it makes you keep your starters off until the end.”

After two near misses to start the second half, Loudon scored its first goal of the afternoon and followed it with another goal from Erin Leonard.

With time running out and Loudon pressing, Augusta’s Kinsey Nasholds gave her team the security it needed with a goal off of an Ali Zook corner kick.