Western Albemarle’s girls soccer team didn’t spend much time stewing over its Region 3C final loss to rival Monticello. The Warriors had work to do.
In fact, they’ve got two straight Class 3 state titles to defend.
“We talked about how sometimes there’s the right time to lose,” said associate head coach Taylor Holder. “The girls just responded so, so well. There was a different mindset on the bus and in warmups today. It was fantastic.”
That mindset translated to the game where the Warriors rolled 3-0 over Hidden Valley in the Class 3 state quarterfinals, with a hat trick from Katrine Berg leading the way. The senior forward who was named the Region 3C player of the year Tuesday as well, was magnificent, scoring first with 15:18 to play in the first half.
But Berg essentially put the game away with a brilliant goal to make it 2-0 with 28:05 to play.
“We have a group of girls have this second gear this year that when a team is hanging around they know to take it to another level,” Holder said. “She took a touch and just volleyed it straight out of the air. We all at first didn’t think it went in but then they celebrated so we celebrated too.”
Hidden Valley managed to challenge the Warriors, including a key chance to cut the lead in half with 10 minutes left, but the shot went wide. Keeper Bailey Wood finished with two saves on the day, but her defense in front of her did the bulk of the work.
“They did attack pretty well, they have some threats up top with pretty good speed,” Holder said. “The girls stayed organized in the back and communicated well to shut things down.
Berg completed the hat trick with 4:42 left to play. Erin Meier and Julia Berg each had assists on the day.
The Warriors will square off with William Monroe in the Class 3 state quarterfinals at Salem High Friday at 2 p.m.
