CHESAPEAKE — The Great Bridge and Kellam boys soccer teams advanced to the Class 5 Region A semifinals with wins Thursday night. The teams will play each other Wednesday for a spot in the region title game.
The No. 1 seed Wildcats beat No. 8 seed Salem 7-0, while No. 5 seed Kellam beat No. 4 Princess Anne 3-1.
Kellam’s Caleb Perry (5) celebrates his penalty kick goal in the first half. Kellam defeated Princess Anne 3-1 in the first round of the Class 5 Region A playoffs at Colon L. Hall Stadium in Chesapeake, Virginia, May 23, 2024. (Billy Schuerman / The Virginian-Pilot)
The ball flies away from Kellam goalkeeper Dylan Bedois (1) and Princess Anne Maciej Machercyzk (21) as they collide in the air. Kellam defeated Princess Anne 3-1 in the first round of the Region 5A playoffs at Colon L. Hall Stadium in Chesapeake, Virginia, May 23, 2024. (Billy Schuerman / The Virginian-Pilot)
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Princess Anne Will Jennings (10) wins a header over Kellam defender Elijah Perry (22). Kellam defeated Princess Anne 3-1 in the first round of the Region 5A playoffs at Colon L. Hall Stadium in Chesapeake, Virginia, May 23, 2024. (Billy Schuerman / The Virginian-Pilot)
Salem defender Donovan Wyatt (7) slides under Great Bridge Connor Aeschliman (2) for possession of the ball. Great Bridge defeated Salem 7-0 in the first round of the Region 5A playoffs at Colon L. Hall Stadium in Chesapeake, Virginia, May 23, 2024. (Billy Schuerman / The Virginian-Pilot)
Great Bridge Carson Danner (10) heads the ball in off of a corner kick for his third goal of the game. Great Bridge defeated Salem 7-0 in the first round of the Region 5A playoffs at Colon L. Hall Stadium in Chesapeake, Virginia, May 23, 2024. (Billy Schuerman / The Virginian-Pilot)
Great Bridge Jack Ottley (11) celebrates a goal in the second half of the game. Great Bridge defeated Salem 7-0 in the first round of the Region 5A playoffs at Colon L. Hall Stadium in Chesapeake, Virginia, May 23, 2024. (Billy Schuerman / The Virginian-Pilot)
Kellam Caleb Perry (5) dives in to knock the ball away from Princess Anne Max Ramirezhuezo (16). Kellam defeated Princess Anne 3-1 in the first round of the Region 5A playoffs at Colon L. Hall Stadium in Chesapeake, Virginia, May 23, 2024. (Billy Schuerman / The Virginian-Pilot)
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Kellam 3, Princess Anne 1
The Knights got some revenge, beating a team they lost to 2-0 earlier in the season to advance to the semifinals. Princess Anne, last year’s Class 5 state champion, fought hard in the game, but its run for a second straight state title comes to an end.
Kellam won its first boys soccer state title last season in Class 6, but the Knights dropped to Class 5 this school year in a Virginia High School League reclassification.
Kellam went into the half up 2-0 thanks to a goal from Colby Atkins and a penalty kick just before the half from Caleb Perry.
It only took five minutes in the second half for the Knights to extend their lead to 3-0 thanks to a goal from Marcus Arellano.
“It’s really the first time that we’ve come together offensively,” Kellam coach Craig Powers said. “I mean of the big schools, the top teams, we haven’t scored a goal against (them). So to put three in on them, that was big.”
Five minutes later, Princess Anne’s leading scorer, Maciej Majcherczyk, got the Cavaliers on the board just when all momentum appeared to be going Kellam’s way.
The Knights’ defense was stout all night and continued to prevent Princess Anne from making a comeback late in the second half despite several close attempts from the Cavaliers’ attack.
Kellam came into the season without most of the players from the Class 6 state championship team after graduations. At the beginning of the year, Powers knew it would be tough to repeat last year’s success with a young and inexperienced team. But after beating Princess Anne, he was more optimistic.
“We just got to play the same way and play with that confidence,” Powers said. “It’s really the first time we played with that type of confidence. Last year, we had confidence every game. Hopefully, this gives us confidence.”
Great Bridge 7, Salem 0
Leading scorer Carson Danner recorded a hat trick, with two goals coming within six minutes in the first half and another early in the second half.
“I think we did a pretty good job,” Danner said. “7-0 is a pretty, pretty bold statement. Salem obviously isn’t the toughest of competition ahead, but we’re preparing for Princess Anne and Kellam (now). We’re gonna watch them, we’re gonna see what we need to do and we’re gonna get the job done.”
Great Bridge scored four in the first half. The early barrage was important for the Wildcats’ offensive momentum for the remainder of the playoffs, coach Scott Wright said.
“We needed that momentum going into it, especially offensively,” Wright said. “We went through a little lull there for a little while. We weren’t scoring the way we want to score and we know that, and we can create goals and attack.”
Jack Ottley notched two goals, and Seth Vaillancourt and Niko Panayiotou joined Danner as the other goal-scorers.
Wright was pleased with his team’s performance and thinks with a little tightening up on the back line, which should happen when senior Aidan Taylor returns from injury, Great Bridge is in good shape moving forward.
“Feeling good,I’mready,I’mlooking forward to the next round now,”Danner said.“I’mnot trying to have the season done yet.”
Michael Sauls, (757) 803-5774, michael.sauls@virginiamedia.com
