One goes in. And then another. And another.
So many times this year, Albemarle’s offense takes a little while to get on the board despite good early chances. Then someone makes a goal happen and the offense snowballs from there for Albemarle.
“I think once we score a goal it lights the fire for all of us,” said Albemarle senior Jane Pinnata. “We just want to keep going and once we start we have a hard time stopping.”
Wednesday in the Conference 16 title game was no exception and that someone was Nyla Lewis as she scored midway through the first half to spark Albemarle to a 3-0 victory over Patrick Henry-Ashland.
Albemarle advances to the Region 5A North tournament.
Albemarle is adept at riding a wave of momentum and subsequently closing the door on opponents by putting the game out of reach or at least making the climb much steeper. Shortly after Lewis’ goal that came off a Madison Birckhead assist on a well-called short corner, Kat Bianchetto scored on an unassisted goal with just over five minutes to play in the half. That gave AHS a big advantage but they managed to keep the pedal mashed to the floor despite that lead.
“(Early on) we were having trouble connecting a little bit but when we see the dish and we do it so fast, we’re unstoppable once we get it going,” Lewis sasid.
Albemarle created chance after chance, earning 18 corners to Patrick Henry’s two on the night.
That confidence carried over into the second half where the Patriots’ midfield continued to dominate possession. Eventually the team’s leading scorer on the season, Anna Murray, tacked on a third goal to give Albemarle some serious breathing room.
“Once we feel everyone communicating and raising the intensity everything just becomes flawless from there,” Lewis said. “We felt really ready. We’re pretty evenly-matched teams and we knew what we had to do and that if we did it we could win.”
Albemarle’s goalie tandem of Logan Wood and Lexi Snider didn’t face much action on the night, but Snider did have a single save.
The Patriots will play in the region tournament early next week, time and opponent to be determined.
