Briar Woods may have needed a reminder, but by the time the Falcons stepped on the field against Albemarle’s girls soccer Monday night in the Class 5 state semifinals, Briar Woods’ 2019 loss was fresh on their minds.
“They certainly watched the film of the last time we played and put that back in our hearts because it has been a couple of years,” said Briar Woods’ first-year coach Caly Bruton. “First time for me, but this is a tradition it appears. This team set out with a goal to go 1-0 for 16 games and we’re now one away.”
The Falcons stepped up on the road against the Patriots, scoring a pair of goals to win a physical, hard-nosed contest 2-0 and advance to the Class 5 state title match.
The loss ended Albemarle’s state title defense a game short of the final — Briar Woods will play First Colonial in the state championship later this week.
Albemarle had to hold up in the first half against an onslaught of chances from Briar Woods led by Virginia Tech signee Sophie Maltese.
“To try and hold on to that potent offense they have is a tall order to ask but our goalkeepers and defense played great,” said Albemarle coach Amy Sherill. “We knew we wanted to come out and be tough like we usually can and we were hoping a ball would bounce our way but unfortunately just wasn’t in the cards for us tonight.”
Albemarle’s defense made a series of tough stops in the early going including a critical defensive stand with just under 27 minutes to play that included a couple of Jaya Daniel saves and then survived several other close calls, including a couple of shots high over the crossbar.
Maltese broke through off a free kick with a leaning shot struck with Albemarle defender Ashley Snider all over her with around 10 minutes to go in the first half. Then Daniel went back to stuffing shots, making a couple of more saves in the closing minutes on shots by Maltese and Lauren Cundey.
Meanwhile, Albemarle created a few chances of their own, but couldn’t cash in, including a free kick with under three minutes to go in the first half that sailed high.
The Patriots did their usual keeper switch at the break with Sydney Alexander coming in and got similar results — stop after stop surrounding a tough goal, this time setup by Maltese. On a free kick from the right side, she lifted the ball to find Allie Harvick’s head in the box. Harvick finished it with 30 minutes to play and Briar Woods had what proved to be an insurmountable lead.
“The difference for me is that we have a very unselfish team, they will look to make the better pass before they take a fly shot off nothing,” Bruton said. “They know that they pressure as a unit, they work as a unit and ultimately it pays off. We attack with all 11, our keeper had an assist for crying out loud.”
Alexander followed that goal with a brilliant play off the crossbar to save another goal with 23 minutes left.
The defeat at the hands of Briar Woods ends the careers of a special group of seniors that includes Daniel, Snider, Laine Quillian, Halle Barredo, Liz Yow, Emily Ward and Kora Jillions. The Patriots stuck together until the end, picking up the corner flags around the field together as a unit, prolonging the last time they’d exit the field together after three straight final four trips for the 12th grade group.
“These seniors came in after we undefeated in 2017 and to ask them to come in and be the team that experiences the first loss — they’ve been battle tested,” Sherrill said. “They’ve given us every single thing they could all the way to this last game. We will certainly miss all seven of them.”
