Feet Do The Talking Meridian Takes Home 2023 State Soccer Title

by Ryan McCafferty

Falls Church’s Meridian High School Mustangs boys soccer team won the state championship last weekend in a defensive slugfest that went scoreless through both halves of regulation, two five-minute overtimes, two more sudden death overtimes, finally decided by the very last penalty kick. Mustang goalkeeper Inigo Diz was the hero, completing the state tournament allowing nary a single regulation goal across any of the three final games, It was a back-and-forth affair between Meridian and the Charlottesville Black Knights, who’d knocked out defending champion Tabb in what would’ve been a rematch from last year.

Both teams saw plenty of scoring chances during regulation. The Mustangs held the edge in the possession battle but Charlottesville seemed to generate more high-danger opportunities. However none of them could get past Diz and his stingy defensive support. Then, after Meridian made its first four of five penalty shots but was stopped on the fifth, Charlottesville had a chance to tie the game but Diz made one more save, the most important one of the day.

“I felt like (Argentinian goal- keeper) Emiliano Martinez,” said Diz, referencing the World Cup champion. “It’s all just mind games (on the penalty shots), you can’t let it get into your head.”

Diz is one of nine seniors on the Meridian championship squad, which has finished the year with a record of 18-3-1, winning its last eight games. The Mustangs never lost again after a 2-1 loss at Manassas Park on April 21, which dropped them to 5-3 at the time, as their only other non-win moving forward was a tie – also against Manassas Park – at home on May 9. Meridian was helped during the postseason by Manassas Park and Tabb both being eliminated by other opponents, and the Mustangs pounced on the opportunity provided for them.

“There are no words to describe how much it means to these kids,” said Meridian head coach Nathan Greiner after the state title win “They’ve overcome so much adversity… it’s the only fitting way for this season to end.”

Meridian’s athletic programs are no strangers to success at the state level. But every class is different, and for those involved in the 2023 boys’ soccer team’s special run, it’s one they’ll never forget.

Falls Church Forward Features Small Businesses

Falls Church Forward, a new civic organization in the Little City, held a panel in conjunction with the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce on the successes and challenges of small businesses. On the panel were Jennifer Gamboa of Body Dynamics, Matt Lee of Lee Design Studios, Jay Tran of TeaDM and Thomas Harvey of Harvey’s restaurant, which hosted the event. All of the panelists spoke about the advantage of conducting business in a small, tight-knit community and the positive impact of recent development projects.

However, they also raised concerns about permit transparency and tax rates in the city. Jay Tran, who is building a food hall at Eden Center, said the permitting process has been arduous. Matt Lee, an architect opening his firm’s first storefront office, echoed Tran’s comments and said his experience trying to open his office has presented a need for a more customer service oriented permitting process.

Falls Church Forward plans to continue its regular meetings in the fall with a discussion on affordable housing.

Catherine Kane

Arlington Board Candidates Debate Ahead of Election

The six Democratic candidates vying for two seats on Arlington’s Board of Supervisors met at a candidate forum hosted by WJLA and the Arlington Chamber of Commerce to discuss economic development, commercial permitting and affordable housing. Arlington voters will decide who will replace Katie Cristol and Christian Dorsey in the June 20 Democratic primary via a rankedchoice vote, the first in Virginia.

Democrats Maureen Coffey, Susan

Cunningham, Jonathan Dromgoole, Natalie Roy, Julius “J.D.” Spain and Tony Weaver, as well as Independent Audrey Clement, faced questions from WJLA’s Nick Minock about their plans to revitalize the county’s commercial sector and provide affordable housing to those working in the service and retail sectors.

Though it did not dominate the conversation at the forum, the Board of Supervisors’ recent vote on missing middle zoning came up in questions on affordable housing and redevelopment along Langston Boulevard. Coffey, Dromgoole, Spain and Weaver support the board’s decision while Clement, Cunningham and Roy said they would have voted against it.

Arlington’s office vacancy rate, 23 percent in the first quarter of 2023, was a key issue. Maureen Coffey, a policy researcher at the Center for American Progress, pointed to the county’s “reputation in the region” for having a difficult permitting process as a barrier to filling vacant office space. Natalie Roy, a realtor, proposed civic and historical organizations make use of the space. The candidates also considered converting vacant offices into housing.

JD Spain, the former president of the Arlington NAACP, said in his closing remarks that the county didn’t roll out ranked choice voting effectively.

“We have not done enough to educate and inform our electorate on ranked choice voting,” Spain said at the forum. “There are still people showing up [to vote] that have no idea what’s going on.”

Ahead of the primary, the candidates have collectively raised nearly $370,000, according to most recent campaign finance reports. The top two candidates will advance to the November general election, where they are expected to win in the deep-blue county. – Catherine

Kane