Jackson returns as JF boys blank Martinsville

FOREST — Martinsville senior goalkeeper Will Reynolds, who will play for Virginia Tech next year, has 14 shutouts this season and 52 for his four-year varsity career, possibly a Virginia High School League record for all classifications.

So it took a quality shot to beat him, and Jefferson Forest’s boys soccer team generated its share in Tuesday night’s Group AA state quarterfinal.

JF’s 3-0 victory over the Bulldogs (18-4), the 16th shutout of the season for Blake Hubbard, sends the Cavaliers (22-0) to Friday’s Final Four for the first time in three years.

They will face Blacksburg, which ended Forest’s season two of the past three years and four times this decade, in Friday’s 4 p.m. semifinal. The Bruins defeat Harrisonburg, the team Forest beat 1-0 in the Region III final, 2-1 on Tuesday.

Following a 45-minute delay in the action due to a lightning sighting in the distance 15 minutes before halftime, the Cavaliers finally broke the scoreless tie in the final three minutes. Bryan Zaring took a free kick from 35 yards out on the left side that forward Ian Case flicked with his head across the box to Andrew Dempsey, who volleyed a laser into the left side netting.

“We just had to keep our composure, and we did,” Dempsey said. “I had all sorts of time.”

Senior forward David Jackson nearly gave the Cavaliers a two-goal cushion moments later on a running shot from the left wing that glanced off the top left corner of the crossbar.

Moments earlier, Martinsville had one of its best scoring opportunities off a corner kick cross from Hampton Snyder, the Bulldogs’ assist leader, to Zack Corcoran, their top scorer.

Corcoran redirected the cross from the left side of the goalie box toward the right post, where defender Benton Riordan was positioned perfectly to make the alert save, preserving the scoreless tie.

“That was key,” JF coach Jedd Zaring said.

Jackson made his presence known in his first game back from an ankle injury, assisting David Rochow with the second score midway through the second half.

Hubbard came out to snare another corner kick cross from Snyder and started a fast break up the right sideline to Jackson, who made a 40-yard dribbling run before launching a beautiful cross into Dave Rochow in the middle of the box.

“Knowing how he’s hurt, it was good to see DJ running again,” Zaring said of Jackson, who he estimated to be only at 60 percent, but played close to 50 minutes.

“It was a little sore and I couldn’t really turn on it much,” Jackson said. “I was like an 18-wheeler, but we got the job done and I got to play some in the last home game. It was great.”

Rochow, the Seminole District and Region III player of the year, trapped the ball, maneuvered to the right of Reynolds and blasted a shot into the net for a 2-0 lead.

Filippo Zadra, an exchange student from Italy, capped the scoring with a technical third goal in the final three minutes, after shifting from midfielder to forward after the Cavaliers switched from a 3-5-1 to a 4-4-2 formation.

He drew the defender toward him with the ball in the box and flipped it over his head. The deceptive shot beat Reynolds upper 90 and he celebrated what he called his best goal of the season with a delayed fist pump.

The Cavaliers hope they can save their best for last in this week's Final Four.