Menchville, Nansemond River survive dramatic games to advance to the semifinals in Class 5 Region B boys soccer

NORFOLK — The boys soccer Class 5 Region B Tournament started off with a bang Thursday night.

Both the quarterfinal matchups played at Powhatan Field went into overtime, with one reaching penalty kicks.

No. 3 seed Menchville beat No. 6 Maury in penalty kicks 3-0 after they played to a 1-1 tie, and No. 5 Nansemond River beat No. 4 Gloucester 3-2 in two overtimes. Both winning teams advanced to the semifinals Wednesday.

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Menchville goal keeper David Ridel gestures toward his teammates after a missed penalty kick by Maury Colin Moses (8). Menchville defeated Maury 1-1 (3-0 penalty kicks) in the Class 5 Region B Tournament at Powhatan Field in Norfolk, Virginia, on May 25, 2023. (Billy Schuerman/The Virginian-Pilot)

The Commodores gave Menchville every shot they had, but ultimately couldn’t close the game.

Maury got on the board first thanks to a goal from senior Tucker Poole in the 33rd minute. Poole fought and clawed early in the first half, at one point incurring a bloody nose.

Menchville had several opportunities to respond throughout the game, but Maury senior goalie Trevor Maloney kept the Monarchs off the board until the second half.

Damien Jackson was able to get Menchville back in the game with a little more than 20 minutes left in the second half, knotting the score at 1-1.

Menchville and Maury went through four overtime periods — two periods of extra times and two golden-goal periods — but neither team could gain an advantage.

The game was ultimately decided on penalty kicks, when Menchville made three straight and Maury missed three.

“I just make sure I’m calm and collected,” Menchville goalie David Ridel said of his penalty kick strategy. “I look at the person that’s shooting, I see their stance, I know where their hips are and that’s how I know where they’re going. It’s easy. … I give them a little smile, a little dance and then I know exactly where they’re going.”

FINAL | No. 3 seed Menchville beats No. 6 seed Maury in PKs

Score was 1-1 going into PKs and Menchville swept those 3-0.

The Monarch’s will play No. 2 seed Kecoughtan in the Class 5 Region B semifinals on May 31. @757teamz pic.twitter.com/sUc4nx4Qta
— Michael Sauls (@mcsauls) May 25, 2023

With the win, Menchville will move on to the semifinals and face No. 2 Kecoughtan. The winner will advance to the state tournament.

“If (this win) doesn’t put the rest of the region on notice — that we are one resilient team and we’re not going to give up — then you need to take notice right now,” Menchville coach John Tracey said. “We’re here to play and we’re here to win — plain and simple.”

Nansemond River 3, Gloucester 2, 2OT

Just like the losing team in the first quarterfinal, Gloucester gave Nansemond River everything it had.

Though Nansemond River got on the board first, thanks to a goal from freshman Rafael Martie, Gloucester was able to respond right away.

Junior Kholby Wilson put a penalty kick in the back of the net for Gloucester to tie the game less than a minute after the Warriors took an early lead.

After halftime, Wilson was able to add an insurance goal for the Dukes, scoring his second goal of the night on another penalty kick.

For the remainder of the game, it seemed that Gloucester was destined to walk off victorious — but then Nansemond River kicked it back into high gear.

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With less than five minutes remaining in regulation, Martie scored his second goal of the night to tie the game at 2-2.

“It’s actually funny,” Warriors coach Dustin Torodoff said. “I went up to (Martie) before the game and said, ‘Hey, Raf, I think it’s time for you to end your 13-game scoreless streak,’ which was an exaggeration, and he just kinda looked at me and smiled and went out and got two tonight.”

The game went through one period of scoreless overtime before Nicholas Conboy broke the tie for the Warriors, ultimately setting up a 3-2 victory.

“We’ve been up against it all year. We had to win five straight to even get into this tournament,” Torodoff said. “I told (the team) before the game, we’ve been playing this type of game for three, four weeks now. So just keep playing that style, you don’t need to worry about pressure — we’ve had pressure for three weeks.”

Nansemond River will face No. 1 Granby in the semifinals.

Michael Sauls, michael.sauls@virginiamedia.com, (757) 803-5775