The Midlothian girls’ varsity soccer team dominated Wednesday’s Central Region semifinal against Atlee offensively, but the Lady Raiders’ defensive effort coupled with two quick goals in the first half gave the team the 2-1 win. Atlee earns a spot in Friday’s Central Region final and in next week’s VHSL quarterfinals.

Atlee’s Kimberly Glymph scored what would be the winning goal in the 35th minute when she corralled a ball at the top of the goal box. A low, hard shot curled into the left corner for a 2-0 Lady Raider lead heading into half time.

“Kim came through on that side and just sent in a well-placed ball,” Atlee head coach Bruce Lovelace said. “We were 2-for-2 on the first two sides of the game on just well-placed balls.”

Midlothian made a move to bring themselves within one just before halftime as they took the kick-off back into Atlee’s defensive end. A shot by Shannon Ropelewski hit the cross bar and took a hard bounce to the ground. Freshman forward Katie Venck collected the ball at the hash mark. With defenders closing in, Venck was forced to make a quick shot off her left foot that sailed high.

The Lady Trojans kept the ball in Atlee’s end during the opening minutes of the second half.

Mariah Landry beat a defender in the middle of the box and appeared headed for an open shot at the goal, but Atlee goalie Taylor Hoy had a line on the kick and made the save. Defender Kyley Von Bargen kept the ball in Atlee’s defensive end as she got to the clearing kick, 30 yards out. She sent it back into the box and Midlothian got a corner kick on a save that went over the endline.

The ensuing corner kick rattled around in front of the cage before settling on the foot of Gracie Tubbs just to the left of the goal. She took a quick low shot that tucked inside the right corner and cut the Atlee lead in half.

The goal gave Midlothian a surge, but the Atlee defense came up big in the waning minutes.

Atlee’s Marie Dunlap got the unenviable task of marking Midlothian senior striker Erin Layne while Mia Warlick and Megan Stuck took turns picking up Venck. The three frustrated the Midlothian offense all night, using their speed to get to leading passes and keeping the two top scorers off kilter.

“Atlee’s defense played so well,” Midlothian head coach Cammie Ward said. “They were really honing in. Every time we got a forward that broke away, they still stayed on the other forward, which really just shut us down … We got that one outside mid, who took a shot and scored for us, which was important. We just really needed our center mids to step up and really make the shot that would nail it for us, and we just couldn’t get there. Atlee played very well. Their defense is really organized and disciplined, which is impressive.”

Atlee back Lauren Armentrout added to the effort defensively as well. With 10 minutes remaining in the game, Layne sent a perfect pass to Venck, who had a step on her defender. Armentrout recovered to take away the inside and save a sure goal.

Sam Armentrout scored the first goal of the game in the fifth minute when she dribbled around the defense to the left side and sent a pretty shot off her right foot, low and into the opposite corner.

“Sam Armentrout’s a freshman. She’s been real strong on the bar and finishing for us,” Lovelace said.

Hoy finished the day with 10 saves while Midlothian goalie Kirsten Hancock saved seven.

Atlee meets Mills Godwin in the Central Region final Friday at 5:30 p.m. at Cosby High School. The Lady Eagles were 2-1 winners over Thomas Dale in the second semifinal game which went into triple overtime. The Lady Raiders won the regional crown two years ago and say that their offensive efforts will have to be spot on Friday night to get the win.

“Possession will be key,” Lovelace said. “We need to play better than we did tonight.”

Sara Page is sports editor of the Midlothian Exchange.