Albemarle field hockey’s forwards just have to keep moving. If they stay active and alert when the Patriots’ midfield is holding possession like they did against Monticello, things usually go well.
They certainly did Thursday, as the Patriots beat the Mustangs 4-0.
“Our forwards never stopped moving, no matter who was up or down in our midfield, our forwards never stopped moving,” said Albemarle coach Brittany McElheny. “That’s what kept allowing us to get shots off and ultimately put the ball in the goal.”
By regularly changing up their positioning, the Mustangs’ forwards created chances throughout the game, whether it was in the set offense, off rebounds or on fastbreaks. The fastbreak was the way the Patriots got on the board first, with Morgan Rose putting the ball in the middle off a nearly field length fastbreak before Madeline Chang finished it off for a 1-0 lead.
Then with about two minutes left in the first half, Anna Murray scored off a Kat Bianchetto assist to extend the Pats’ lead to 1-0.
Albemarle tacked on two more goals in the second half, with Rose scoring the third and Julia Douvas notching the fourth. Lexi Kholer also chipped in an assist.
While the offense kept manufacturing goals, the Patriots’ defense withstood a series of deft, quick runs by the Mustangs, who countered well but didn’t manage to get on the board.
“They had a lot of runs — they have a lot of good players with good sticks skills,” McElheny said. “It wasn’t the prettiest defensive performance we’ve put out there, but it was effective.”
The Mustangs have been hard at work on bringing together a lot of new moving parts this season, and while they didn’t get the result they’d hope for, they’ve definitely made some progress, not allowing the game to get out of hand at any point despite a relentless attack from the Patriots.
“We’re still working to build some team chemistry,” said Monticello coach Katie Martin. “We’re scrimmaging a lot in practice, trying to get the girls to play in a game-like situation with different collections of people. We’ve also been doing some team-bonding exercises that they get really frustrated with me about but are really helpful.”
Monticello keeper Lindsay Gunsallus kept the Mustangs in it throughout with several timely saves while Emily Garcia helped post the shutout for the Patriots and had one save.
The Mustangs will look to bounce back against Western Albemarle Tuesday at home while Albemarle hits the road Monday to take on Orange County.
