This Thursday, June 9, represents the fourth time in the past four years that the Lady Mustangs will travel to Radford University to compete for the State Championship. Although hopes are high for the outcome, the team has encountered its share of obstacles en route to the annual tournament. Although many have overcome injuries and have returned to the field, including Roxanne Sweeney, Rachel Sweeney, Rebecca Jackson, and Hayley Wood, there is one team that may stand in their way of a third State title in four years: Clarke County.

During the district season the Lady Mustangs went 7-3, losing to Clarke County twice and to Madison County once. Some blame these losses on the lack of substitutions and key players due to injury.

The District tournament started two weeks ago, and the Mustangs faced Madison again and came away with a 2-0 win. This win automatically Mason a place in the regional tournament, as the top two teams in each district move on (likewise for regionals to states).

That following Friday the girls traveled once more to Clarke County to fight for the District Title. Unfortunately, their efforts were unsuccessful and resulted in a 3-0 loss. Although the Mustangs had many opportunities, they were still weak with limited use of recently returned defender Wood and forward Roxanne Sweeney. Despite the loss, Mason moved on to challenge Goochland High School the following Tuesday (5/31) in single elimination rounds for regionals. The Mustangs came out with a 7-0 win, thanks to many player contributions, including freshman Karina Robarge, and sophomores Roxy Sweeney and Katie Turner.

Two days later they traveled again to Riverheads where they also won 7-0 with a winning goal from Roxy Sweeney, and a hat-trick from Turner. Thus, the Lady Mustangs earned another chance to play Clarke and this time for the Regional Title.

On Friday, June 3, the girls rode the 1 ½ hour bus ride to Clarke to play in wet conditions, following a 2-0 win by the boys who played immediately before. With high spirits the Lady Mustangs had many chances to put the ball in the net but were unsuccessful and let in one goal in the first half. The atmosphere of the half-time speech implied that they were very much still in the game, but the chance to win was pushed further and further away as the Eagles put in 4 more goals to end the game 5-0.

In lieu of the rather solemn bus ride home, Monday’s practice featured many team bonding activities, as the coaches and captains believe that these repeated losses may simply be mental. They’ve had the opportuntities to score, but many of the younger girls have admitted that playing against Clarke County with three losses behind them really made them timid and even scared of Friday’s game.

Nonetheless, the Lady Mustangs will (as previously mentioned) leave shortly after school ends on Thursday to head to Radford University. There they play one more team for semifinals, and should they win, they face the winner of Friday’s second game (Clarke versus another school) for the State Championship on Saturday. Unfortunately, for the last two games of the season, the Mustangs will miss the help of Annie Zwieghaft who will be unable to play due to illness.

In previous years, the Mustangs have consistently lost the district season games and the district title game to their rivals, Brenstville in 2002 and 2003, and Clarke in 2004 and 2005. However they have won every regional title in those past three years and won States twice. Losing the championship this past Friday has offset the pattern, leaving no guesses for the girls about how this season will turn out. Captains Samantha Wolfe, Kiki Kirkbride, and Rachel Sweeney hope for the best this coming weekend and will continue to encourage the inexperienced girls, along with the help of coaches Cliff Carroll, Stephanie Hulke, and Bob Penland. They look forward to a third successful visit to States and yet another addition to their collection of "hardware."