Under clearing but wet conditions, the Cosby and Atlee boys’ soccer teams took the field Thursday night for the second game of the Central Region semifinals. The teams went back and forth all night and the only difference was a misstep late in the first half which gave the Titans a 1-0 advantage and a berth into Friday night’s final and next week’s VHSL tournament. The Raiders, however, left the field looking forward to next year.

In the 35th minute, Cosby senior forward Nick DeProspero got a lead pass in the Cosby scoring end. He shook a defender in the middle of the field for a one on one with the goalie, cut right and fired at the left post. The goal proved all the Titans would need, but the Cosby defense also came up big under immense pressure from the Raiders.

Atlee junior Jordan Boothe proved as slippery as the rain-slickened field. Late in the first half, Cosby was awarded a throw-in deep in their own defensive end. Boothe came out of nowhere with a header to steal the ball. As the Cosby defense sprinted back, Boothe charged the goal from the right side, which forced Cosby goalie Sean Stowe to come off his line for the save.

Just before halftime, Boothe got the ball again. Flanked by a defender, he used his speed to keep a step ahead. Stowe again came out and almost literally grabbed the ball off Boothe’s foot.

“He’s our goal scorer, and he’s returning next year for us,” Atlee head coach Steve Thompson said. “We stacked our two [forwards]. Instead of running them side-by-side, we stacked them so [Boothe] can always play back to the goal and have an outlet if he needs to lay it back, and that’s been working for us the last four games.”

Marking Boothe most of the second half was Cosby’s Drew McMahon, who had a solid night defensively.

Atlee’s best scoring chances came in the last 10 minutes of the game. Senior midfielder Chris Martin sent a pass to Ryan Boothe, who kicked the ball into the Cosby goal area. Jordan Boothe redirected the pass back to Martin. His shot in traffic went over the end line for a corner. Cosby’s Chris Nelson headed the corner kick away but a foul just outside of the box gave Atlee a direct kick. Martin took the kick, which was tipped just over the cross bar by Stowe but gave the Raiders another corner. The resulting kick went wide.

“We had to just be opportunistic because we basically try to control the midfield,” Thompson said. “We try to keep possession and move through and pick our spots, and we have some speed on the outside so we try to utilize that speed and take advantage of it up the flanks. It just didn’t work out so well [tonight].”

With the clock reading zero as the final two minutes were tracked on the field, Atlee earned two more corners and kept the pressure up in their scoring end, but just couldn’t find the mark.

Stowe and Atlee goalie Michael McCabe each saved six shots. Atlee finishes the season at 11-4-1. Though the team loses nine seniors off this year’s squad, the Raiders return a solid group of players.

“[We’re] returning our keeper, returning two of our backs, returning three midfielders and returning a forward, so it’s a great start,” Thompson said. “It was a good game; very proud, but sometimes, especially in these situations, it’s going to come down to one mistake. Unfortunately, we made it.”

Cosby meets Mills Godwin in the Central Region final tonight at 7:30 at Cosby High School. The Eagles were 8-0 winners over Matoaca in the first semifinal game.

Sara Page is Sports Editor of the Midlothian Exchange.