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Albemarle boys soccer drops Monticello

 

Mohamed Abdelkadir Abakar netted a hat trick and Albemarle got goals from three other players in a 6-1 win over visiting Monticello on Monday night.

 

Much like their first meeting with their crosstown rival, the Patriots found themselves knotted 1-1 with midway through the first half.

 

This time around, however, AHS took a lot less time to get its explosive offense going and pull away, completing the season sweep and improving its record to 10-1 on the season.

 

Despite the Pats registering most of the early chances, Monticello (4-7-1) drew first blood when Jose Mendoza Martinez beat Tobi Abramenko on a penalty kick on the 12th minute. That woke up the Patriots, who hadn’t given up a goal since a 2-1 win over Fluvanna County on April 15 and had allowed just four as a team this season.

 

“We’re so senior-heavy that i wasn’t really worried,” Albemarle coach Zach Laird said. “I knew that our captains and more experienced players would keep the team focused.”

 

Abakar answered barely two minutes later on the other end off an assist from Daniel Starr to erase the deficit just as quickly as it had appeared.

 

Monticello goalie Kemper Goodman made three stops in the half and finished with nine saves, but Starr fooled him on a sweeping left-footed strike from just inside the box in the 28th minute to put Albemarle up 2-1.

 

“We knew we had to win this game before we played it, and when they scored that goal, it kind of surprised us,” Abakar said. “It got in our heads. But we thought ‘we’re not going to lose this game,’ and everyone worked for it.”

 

In the 30th, Aidan Shell got into the act with a header off a corner for a 3-1 lead that the Patriots took into the break.

 

Albemarle kept the pressure on in the second half, and Abakar got his second when he blasted one past Goodman from about 20 yards out to put AHS up 4-1.

 

“I could see it from the warmup that he was in a mood tonight,” Laird said of Abakar. “He didn’t start at the beginning of the year but has had a chance now with Wes [Cheuk] being hurt, and he’s made the most of it. He told me he was gonna have a big game.”

 

Like the first half, Albemarle got another quick two-goal punch midway through the half, including Abakar completing his hat trick. Shortly before that, however, Brandon Mahon got onto the board with a tally from the short left corner.

 

For the game, the Patriots outshot the Mustangs 19-7. Abramenko had four saves, rebounding nicely after conceding the early goal.

 

AHS returns to action Thursday against Orange County, while Monticello travels to Western Albemarle.

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