By Jim McConnell
special correspondent

Eighty minutes of back-and-forth action under a blazing sun wasn’t enough to decide the Dominion District girls soccer tournament championship Thursday at Clover Hill High School.

Two quick swings of Joy Grove’s right leg changed all that.

With Cosby and Midlothian deadlocked at 1, Grove netted the go-ahead goal when her corner kick slid just over the outstretched hands of Trojans goalkeeper Kirsten Hancock and curled inside the far post less than a minute into the first overtime.

“It feels a little defeating because it’s unlucky. But the one thing I try to teach my girls is that in soccer, getting to regionals and being able to get to states, it takes skill, it takes motivation, but ultimately it takes a little bit of luck, too,” Midlothian coach Cammie Ward said.

Demoralized by the improbable tally, Midlothian surrendered another corner kick about 30 seconds later. This time, Grove’s attempt found teammate Becca Wann, who out-jumped a defender and knocked in a header to complete Cosby’s 3-1 victory.

“It’s a big rivalry, so we definitely wanted to prove something and we did,” Grove said. “I’m really proud of the whole team. We’ve had injuries, and we came through and played really well.”

Cosby (14-2-1) got on the scoreboard first when Grove blocked an attempted clearing pass by a Midlothian defender, took a couple quick dribbles and made a perfect cross to teammate Tessa Broadwater. She knocked a one-timer into the open goal with 13:54 left in the first half.

Both teams barely misfired on several quality scoring opportunities as the Titans clung to the one-goal advantage until midway through the second half.

Just moments after a spectacular diving save by Cosby keeper Nikki Pond, Midlothian’s Erin Layne beat the Titans’ offsides trap and collected a long ball into the penalty area. Layne calmly flicked the ball into the net to knot the game at 1 with 17:24 left.

“We started both halves really strong; then, we started to get a little hectic in the way we were playing,” Wann said. “After their goal, it took us a little while to pull ourselves back together and realize we had to stay strong in the back.”

The Trojans dominated the remainder of regulation time; and while they couldn’t score again, they felt good about their chances to finally win an overtime match against their district rivals.

Both of the teams’ regular-season meetings also had required extra time. Cosby won one and the other ended in a tie.

“We came into the overtime thinking, ‘We had the momentum when we came off the field, and we’re going to continue with the momentum,’” Ward said. “We knew we were executing our strategy well, and we just had to stick with it. Unfortunately, that lucky goal surprised us, and I don’t think our girls reacted as well as we could have.”

Trailing by two, Midlothian (11-3-2) got a chance to regroup when officials stopped the match because of lightning with 3:24 left in the second overtime. But instead of waiting indefinitely for play to resume, Ward opted to end the match so several of her players could attend a pre-graduation Senior Night ceremony at the school.

“They were supposed to be there at 6:30. We obviously played through that, and they were going to be late. At the point the stoppage happened, I said, ‘Girls, just go,’” Ward added. “There were only a couple minutes left. Three of my girls were getting a lot of awards, so it was important for them to be there.”

Regardless of Thursday’s result, both teams already knew they would continue their seasons next week. Cosby, the district regular-season champion, will host a Central Region tournament quarterfinal game, while Midlothian will begin its quest for a regional title on the road.

“This is my last shot at a state championship,” Wann said. “I think we’d be an underdog because we have nine freshmen on the team, but each and every one of the freshmen give us something good when they come in. The whole team really wants it and that’s what we’re aiming for.”