Mason wins Region B

FISHERSVILLE — Now, Wilson Memorial hits the road.

Defending Group A champion George Mason won yet another Region B championship on Friday, defeating the Green Hornets 3-1. With the loss, Wilson will now make the trip to take on the Region A champion on Tuesday in the first round of the Group A tournament.

Wilson coach Scott Crist joked that he had no idea what to expect, and doesn’t even know who is in the Region A tournament.

“As soon as we find out we can make a game plan,” Crist said.

Region A has not provided tournament results to the Virginia High School League.

In the early stages of the match, Wilson had trouble keeping the Mustangs’ offense away from the goal allowing several close shots to cross by the net.

“George Mason came in with such a reputation,” Crist said. “They are always in a hunt for a state championship. I think it was a little intimidation, but I think we figured out that we could play with them.”

After eight minutes ticked off the clock, Lindsay Suyes had the Green Hornets’ first scoring opportunity, breaking away from the Mustangs. As Suyes ran to the net, Mustangs keeper Nicole Mitchel bolted for the ball. Suyes got the shot off before colliding with Mitchel but it sailed high.

“George Mason is such a good team you have to capitalize,” Crist said. “We had some chances late to make it a game, but when you have chances you have to capitalize.”

Ten minutes later, George Mason scored its first goal when, after a shot bounced off the crossbar, Hannah Myers took a second chance shot and put it into the net. Myers had another shot almost find the top of the net, but Wilson keeper Brittany Reid got her fingers on it and sent it over the crossbar.

Wilson kept the Mustangs off the board for the remainder of the half and began to apply pressure to the defense. Wilson was never able to get a ball into the net, but went into the second half energized.

The Green Hornets’ defense continued to keep the score at 1-0 but halfway into the second half, Mayssa Chehata fed a pass to Kim Kenny to put Mason up by two.

After another 10 minutes ticked by, Kenny struck again with an additional insurance goal.

Wilson played its best in the final eight minutes of the game, Crist said and Holly Bartley earned a goal for the effort to put Wilson on the board.

“I will say this, our girls never quit they never stopped playing,” Crist said. “When they got down 3-0, they kicked it in a little harder I thought.”

The Green Hornets and Mustangs may meet again on Friday in the Group A semifinals if both teams win in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

“This can do nothing but help us,” Crist said. “Maybe not this year but to play with this pressure in this environment they can grow up and learn from it.”