Charlottesville’s Ellen Buckley just wanted a chance to score.
She got it, and then she made sure her lone goal of the season was a memorable one.
Buckley unleashed a corner kick with less than 10 minutes to play, and bent the ball to her left, just out of reach of Goochland goalie Deidrea Stratton’s outstretched hand, for a brilliant — and apparently slightly unintentional — goal.
“I obviously didn’t shoot from the corner, but, whatever, it worked,” Buckley said. “Actually right before the game I was working on getting my corners to go straight and not bend, but, whatever works.”
Buckley’s blast ended the game with 9:21 to play, capping a slaughter-rule, 8-0 victory for the Black Knights.
“She asked me to play forward because she wanted to score one goal,” said Charlottesville coach Fernando Opere. “Then she came with this beautiful corner, what a shot. Many professionals would like to do it like that.”
Charlottesville was on the attack all night, unleashing a barrage of shots against Goochland. The Black Knights finished with 35 shots, and got goals from six different players, and four freshmen came up big for Charlottesville. Kelsey Brownrigg, recently called up from varsity, had a pair of goals, while striker Abigail Intolubbe-Chiml, had a couple of goals. Amy Hemmenway then got in on the act with a goal an an assist, one of them to set up one of Brownrigg’s goals. Althea Pickering also chipped in with a goal.
Not to be outdone, several upperclassmen contributed to the onslaught, with Buckley and Julia Bray putting in strong performances. Bray had a goal and an assist.
Ellie Von Storch rounded out the scoring, booting home an assist from Maggie McNair, a sophomore.
The victory gives the No.1-seed Black Knights a berth in the semifinals, slated for next Tuesday, against Fluvanna County.
While the Black Knights attacked all night and put together eight goals, Stratton stood strong in her final high school contest, running up an incredible 27 saves for Goochland. The senior made several gritty, athletic saves against the hard-charging Charlottesville attackers.
Goochland’s season ends with the loss.
