Charlottesville girls soccer had just played a less-than-desirable 40 minutes.
“The worst first half we’ve played all season,” said Charlottesville’s Elizabeth Burns.
“Probably the worst first half of soccer we’ve ever played,” said CHS coach Marcelle Van Yahres.
Something had to change and down two goals to a fiery Fluvanna team that was locked in and connecting seemingly every pass in the first half, it had to change fast.
Lucky for the Black Knights it did.
Charlottesville got rolling in the second half, scored a pair of quick goals to equalize and then Burns scored on a breakaway with 10 minutes left to lift CHS to a 4-3 victory in a wild game that was critical in determining who’ll advance to the Region 3C tournament.
“We went in at half and we were like ‘we’ve got to change this’,” Burns said. “And I’m glad we did.”
Burns scored two of the three second half goals, bookending Margaret Neale’s free kick that Andrea Lefkowitz finished in front of the net for the equalizer. Burns’ second goal came after she had to leave due to a leg cramp she tried to fight through but eventually forced her to the sideline.
“I chugged pickle juice and had some mustard because that’s what my coach tells me,” Burns said. “I stretched out and I knew I wanted to go back in because we were tied and I’m glad I went back in.”
So are the Black Knights. She broke away with about 10 minutes left and from there Charlottesville had to hold on tight as Fluvanna rediscovered some of its early form and created several chances in the closing minutes including drawing a corner with under two minutes left.
“It has been a thread that runs through this team, the fight that we’ve consistently shown,” Van Yahres said. “Whether it’s Western or Albemarle or Fluvanna. We had a tremendous second half as far as the fight goes.”
It wasn’t, of course, totally Charlottesville’s own doing in that first half. The Flucos put a ton of pressure on the Black Knights and came in seemingly ready to complete a season sweep after winning that first clash earlier this year.
“They came out with a fire and we played great, it was almost the culmination of everything we’ve been working on all year,” said Fluvanna coach Kat Ditta. “We just had a few too many letdowns and didn’t take advantage of all our opportunities.”
Fluvanna got a pair of early goals from Cristina Valladares and Kelsea Herring, with Valladares scoring on a header off a corner kick by Evelyn Demers. Herring beat several Black Knights defenders on her run before slotting the goal past the Charlottesville keeper.
Lucy Scott had the Black Knights’ lone first half goal while Jada Morton tacked on Fluvanna County’s third goal before the break to give Fluvanna a 3-1 advantage at the half.
The Black Knights get a long break now before re-taking the field against Orange County June 7 while Fluvanna will host Orange County June 3.
