By Dan Stillwell
Did the better team win?
Fans, players and coaches just might debate the Hurricane-Jefferson Class AAA girls state semifinal for some time.
The scoreboard, however, had the final say: Hurricane 1, Jefferson 0.
Sophomore forward Chloe Barber scored the contest’s only goal on a rebound in the 51st minute to put the Redskins into today’s 1 p.m. girls final against University.
Jefferson (18-3) never got its offense going. In fact, the Cougars did not take a shot on goal.
“We played hard, but ultimately it wasn’t Hurricane that beat us,” coach Katie Myers said. “We beat ourselves.”
Hurricane’s Shellie Young would beg to differ.
“We dominated most of the game,” coach Shellie Young said. “They have an outstanding player (Sarah Cogswell) and we were able to shut her down.”
The stats back the Redskins. They held a 4-0 advantage in shots on goal and were up 6-1 on corner kicks
Jefferson moved the ball well at midfield, but could do little against Hurricane’s strong back line.
Meanwhile, the 16-1-4 Redskins got in close once and Barber, the daughter of former Marshall University and NFL player Mike Barber, made it count.
“Becca (Logan) crossed it and I knew I was going to get something on it,” Chloe Barber said.
Myers called the play “a mess in the middle.”
“It wasn’t a quality goal,” she said.
Jefferson’s all-state goalkeeper, Melissa Taylor, easily corralled the other Hurricane shots.
Young said, “They have a good keeper and she kept them in the game.”
Jefferson’s best chance came midway through the second half. Cogswell, a player of the year candidate, got within 10 yards of the goal and fired.
The ball curved left and into the arms of Hurricane goalkeeper Callie McClanahan.
“It was a tough game, but you’ve got to pull through those,” Cogswell said. “It’s a shame we didn’t connect. We had everything else going for us.”
Hurricane was making its first appearance at the state tournament.
“We did extremely well, considering we hadn’t had to perform with this much pressure,” Young said.
“We’ve played more quality opposition. We had such a battle to get here.”
Myers remained convinced the Cougars should have won.
“I’m not a sore loser, but we didn’t show the best game we could have shown,” she said. “We didn’t put the ball to our feet.
“As far as I’m concerned, the better team didn’t win today.
Young countered it’s not the better team that matters, it’s who was better in the game.
“Whatever team performs on a night wins, and we had a better performance than they did.”
Hurricane 1, Jefferson 0
Halftime: 0-0. Scoring: Chloe Barber, off rebound (51). Shots on goal: J (none), H (Becca Logan, Chloe Barnholt, Skye Smith 2). Keeper saves: J (Melissa Taylor 3), H (Callie McClanahan 0). Corner Kicks: J 1, H 6. Offsides: None. Fouls: J 2, H 8. Yellow cards: None. Red cards: None. Records: J (18-3-0), H (16-1-4)
