Western Albemarle boys soccer’s aggressive attack propelled the Warriors to a 5-0 victory over Waynesboro on Tuesday night in the Conference 29 semifinals, sending them to the conference title game Thursday.
Within five minutes of play, the Warriors struck twice. A quick header by Aidan Sinclair started the action and a slotted goal by Colin Moore off of a breakaway added to the momentum.
Western dialed it back through the first half allowing Waynesboro’s offense to send some shots on goal. However, Western keeper Jonathan Whyte had little difficulty fending off the Little Giants’ attempts.
Late in the half, Western’s Carrington Murphy got the ball on a breakaway. He shifted to his right, sending the opposing keeper flailing past him, then he tapped the ball into the open net, making it 3-0 to the Warriors with 9:45 remaining in the first half.
“[Carrington] plays with a really high amount of energy. When he is working hard like that the guys seem to feed off of it,” coach Milo Oakland said. “It’s nice to see him get rewarded for that energy because sometimes it’s a little unsung but today he was able to get it done.”
The game hit another lull after Murphy’s strike as both teams struggled for the ball at midfield. The Warriors went into halftime with a 3-0 lead, 40 minutes away from a spot in the Conference 29 Championship.
Two minutes into the second half, the Warriors had a near miss. Will Thomas took a shot from just outside of the goalie box and sent it screaming into the top right corner of the goal post. The ball deflected out and was then cleared by Waynesboro’s defenders.
The Warriors continued their aggressive attack. This time, Jake Paulson netted one to extend the lead to four goal with 31:35 remaining. Then three minutes later, Murphy tallied another goal to conclude the Warriors’ scoring for the night.
Through the aggressive offense of Murphy, Sinclair and Moore, and the clean sheet by Whyte, Western advanced to the Conference 29 Championship to play Turner Ashby.
