POCA, W.Va. -- Herbert Hoover girls soccer Coach J.D. Thompson wore an ear-to-ear smile that just would not go away.
That was OK though, because it was a smile that had certainly been waiting to come out for a long, long time.
On Thursday night, Thompson looked on as his Huskies rode two second-half goals from senior Taylor Aab to rebound from an early 2-0 deficit and defeat host Poca 3-2.
"That's huge," Thompson said, "especially since this has turned into a rivalry and we've never beaten them."
The Dots (2-1-0) looked like they were going to stay unbeaten in the seven-year series between the programs when Brooke Hager and Cierra Clark scored unassisted goals in the first 17 minutes of play.
But with 11:01 remaining in the half, Courtney Ridenour stunned the Dots when she drove a 35-yard free kick into the upper left corner of the Poca net.
That gave the Hoover players a spark going into halftime.
"We switched things around a little and had a little mid-game talk," Aab said. "Just pumping each other up."
She tied the game with 21:09 remaining when an Amber Williams pass found Aab close to the net on the left side. After a quick move around one defender, Aab gave Poca keeper Lauren Harrison a fake to the left and then drove the ball to the right.
Poca Coach Mike Shrewsbury felt that score - even more than Ridenour's goal - was what turned the tide.
"We were still up 2-1 (after Ridenour's shot) and dominating the game at the time," he said. "Then, when they tied it up, the momentum really shifted."
A few minutes later, the Dots missed an opportunity on a penalty kick when Huskies' keeper Chelsi Chapman came up with a diving save.
With 6:52 to play Williams again found Aab, this time on the right side, and she drove across the goal and drove the ball back at an angle into the inside of the post for the win.
Aab has led Hoover (2-3-0) in goals the past two seasons, but had not scored in the Huskies' first four games before Thursday.
POCA, W.Va. -- Herbert Hoover girls soccer Coach J.D. Thompson wore an ear-to-ear smile that just would not go away.
That was OK though, because it was a smile that had certainly been waiting to come out for a long, long time.
On Thursday night, Thompson looked on as his Huskies rode two second-half goals from senior Taylor Aab to rebound from an early 2-0 deficit and defeat host Poca 3-2.
"That's huge," Thompson said, "especially since this has turned into a rivalry and we've never beaten them."
The Dots (2-1-0) looked like they were going to stay unbeaten in the seven-year series between the programs when Brooke Hager and Cierra Clark scored unassisted goals in the first 17 minutes of play.
But with 11:01 remaining in the half, Courtney Ridenour stunned the Dots when she drove a 35-yard free kick into the upper left corner of the Poca net.
That gave the Hoover players a spark going into halftime.
"We switched things around a little and had a little mid-game talk," Aab said. "Just pumping each other up."
She tied the game with 21:09 remaining when an Amber Williams pass found Aab close to the net on the left side. After a quick move around one defender, Aab gave Poca keeper Lauren Harrison a fake to the left and then drove the ball to the right.
Poca Coach Mike Shrewsbury felt that score - even more than Ridenour's goal - was what turned the tide.
"We were still up 2-1 (after Ridenour's shot) and dominating the game at the time," he said. "Then, when they tied it up, the momentum really shifted."
A few minutes later, the Dots missed an opportunity on a penalty kick when Huskies' keeper Chelsi Chapman came up with a diving save.
With 6:52 to play Williams again found Aab, this time on the right side, and she drove across the goal and drove the ball back at an angle into the inside of the post for the win.
Aab has led Hoover (2-3-0) in goals the past two seasons, but had not scored in the Huskies' first four games before Thursday.
She leads a group of four seniors that has brought respect to the youngest soccer program in Kanawha and Putnam counties.
The year Aab, Regina Farmer, Cassie Forbes, Sarah Moles, and Taylor Coleman arrived, the Huskies posted a 1-16-0 mark and had only 11 players on the team.
That was pretty normal at Falling Rock. The program's first three teams combined for a 2-54-3 record. The past three seasons, the 2010-11 seniors have a cumulative mark of 12-34-0 to date, after winning five times each of the last two seasons.
"It makes me proud to see how everyone has improved," Aab said. "Since my sophomore year, it has completely turned around."
Against the Dots, Moles and Farmer did a good job of keeping Poca's outstanding freshman forward, Harley Hutchins, from making any strong runs or getting off any uncontested shots.
All of the improvement has not been in skills, strategy, and conditioning though.
Thursday's win was more about attitude than anything else.
"They didn't give up and it's taken a lot of time to get that in them," Thompson said. "Just two or three years ago if they got down a goal or two they packed it in."
This time it was the opposing team that did not fight back.
"Instead of playing to win after they tied it, we started playing not to lose," Shewsbury said. "Hoover came out and fought for it."
Poca did play without junior stopper Adrian Cunningham who missed school with a severe migraine. That forced Shrewsbury to move usual keeper Kayla Moles into the field and Harrison into goal.
Speedy senior sweeper Justina Knight put in an outstanding game defensively to make up for the lineup shifts.
Harrison ended up with just one save in goal, while her counterpart, Chapman, had a much busier night with seven saves.
Contact sportswriter J.T. Simms at jtsi...@dailymail.com or 304-348-1735.
