Fitness played factor in loss, coach said, but optimism remains heading into states

COLONIAL HEIGHTS - As the final whistle blew late into the night on Wednesday, the emotions were evident for the Colonial Heights girls soccer team.

Walking off the field, some players hung their heads, while others covered their faces with jerseys, hiding tears. The Colonials had come oh-so-close to claiming the Region 3A title, but ultimately fell to Tabb, 2-1, at home in a game that, all told, lasted over three hours, due to a 90-minute lightning delay in the second half.

With a bid to the state tournament sealed, this was not the end of Colonial Heights' season, but the Colonial players still felt the loss.

"You can tell them all day that we're still going, but that's not going to sound good or feel good in the moment," head coach Colleen Hirn said after the loss. "They'll go home, they'll get the tears out . . . and then we will return to practice on Friday and get working again."

Perhaps the pain of the loss was stronger because the Colonials had so much time to dwell on it. With 5:33 remaining in the game, and Tabb in the lead by what would become the final score, play was stopped for lightning. Both teams were sent to the locker room, where they remained for around 90 minutes, as storms overhead passed through, though Hirn saw it as an advantage.

"If anything, the delay was a blessing because we were actually pretty gassed, and we needed that," Hirn said.

Colonial Heights took an early lead in the first half when Nicole Mills buried a chance off of a throw-in, collecting the ball in the penalty area, turning, and hitting it across the face of the goal and into the far corner.

Tabb answered with several decent scoring chances to end the half, and Colonial Heights goalkeeper Abbi Pryor was forced into a few key saves to keep the Colonials on top at the break. She'd finish with 14 saves on the night.

On a hot night, Hirn believed that the early momentum boost of the first half lead was offset by her team pressing a bit too much, wearing themselves down.

"We are normally a team that plays down a bit in the first half, and then comes in strong in the second half," Hirn said. "I think they almost over did it in the first half in a way, and we had nothing left when we were three quarters into the second half."

Minutes in to the second half, Tabb finally capitalized on their possession and Colonial Heights' fatigue to tie the game. They created a chance by forcing the ball into the box, where it was played across the goal, and was deflected in by Colonial Heights' Claire Hill for an own-goal.

"She was beating herself up a little bit," Hirn said, in defense of her player. "That's not anything you can control, not anything that defines you as a player."

Then, with 20 minutes remaining, Tabb's Abby Heckler found herself open on a short corner routine, and cleanly passed the ball into the back of the net, giving the Tigers the lead, 2-1.

Tabb withstood a final flourish from Colonial Heights, aided by that needed 90-minute break in play, to hang on and win.

Hirn believes the loss is largely to blame on her team's fitness, or relative lack thereof.

"I think when you look at the game as a whole, I think we actually outplayed them for the majority of the game," she said. "But their physical fitness was better than ours, and I think that's what bit us in the end. We had a couple girls who were just dogged."

This late in the season, fitness issues can't be worked around, as Hirn said, "that's something you can't change overnight." It's something she hopes her team learns from heading into next season.

"I think it's just off-season preparation," she said. "I explained to my girls that were coming back next year that you guys have to remember this in the off-season. We have got to not let that be an issue again."

Fitness issues aside, Hirn said she was pleased with the way her team played on Wednesday, saying, "I think we really did everything we could, skill-wise, technically, effort-wise."

Though they didn't win the Region 3A championship on Wednesday, the Colonials still took home hardware. After they were awarded the runner-up trophy, Hill, a senior captain, raised it over her head and shouted, "We've made it this far!" to the cohort of fans that remained after the long delay.

Hirn believes they can make it even farther as they head toward the state tournament, set to begin on June 4 with a visit to either Brentsville or William Monroe in the quarterfinal round.

"I really truly believe that going in to states that we have the potential to do big things," she said. "Hopefully they feel it to, and we're not out of it."
