Lake Braddock’s girls soccer team beat Stone Bridge 2-0 Wednesday earning aspot in the Northern Regional final and its second straight berth in the AAA Virginia State Tournament.
The Bruins capitalized on their team’s depth with both of their goals coming from non-starters. Bruins junior midfielder Leigh VanLear struck first with 27:03 left in the first half, scoring in traffic just seconds after she was substituted into the game.
“I was definitely in the right place at the right time,” VanLear said. “The ball bounced in front of me and I went for it.”
Lake Braddock (15-5) built its lead to 2-0 with a goal by Bruins sophomore forward Aline Le with only 17 seconds left in the first half.
Stone Bridge (13-3-3) moved up this season from the AA class where they won the state championship last year. Bulldogs sophomore midfielder Melony Davis said that their game against Lake Braddock was an example of the tough competition they faced this year.
“Moving up from AA meant every game we played this year was a battle,” Davis said. “We are usually a quick team, but this Lake Braddock team was so thick, it was hard to get around them because they were pushing so hard.”
