After two frustrating years, Orange County is just looking for a little momentum to get a program that was once a major factor back into the mix.
Don’t look now, but the Hornets are starting to feel things swing their way.
Orange County rode a pair of first half goals and some tenacious defense to beat Albemarle 2-0 Tuesday night. With the win, the Hornets move to 2-1 on the season with the other win coming against Liberty-Bealeton.
“We played really well all over the field,” said Orange coach Tricia Grabeel. “The defense worked really well, the midfield was where they needed to be, which was huge. It feels good to win considering where we were, but we won’t talk about where we were.”
The Hornets and Patriots played to a deadlock at the break, but with 18:30 left in the second half, Kassidy Marshall broke through for a goal to ignite Orange. Marshall’s goal was a final product for an offense that had been clicking and creating corners all night (six in the opening half alone).
“The offense just clicked, their touch passes, the give and goes, everything was just where it needed to be,” Grabeel said. “Our inners connected really well tonight. This is probably the first game that they actually could read each other.”
Orange extended the lead a few minutes later when Anna Reuss pushed the lead to 1-0 with a timely play near the net. First-year starter Kayla Lawson made a handful of saves for the Hornets in goal.
Albemarle struggled at times during the game, faltering in the later part of the second half in particular, a product, at least in part of a team that’s been depleted by illness.
“Some of them have been in and out of practice this week and we’ve got a smaller squad this year with about 16 girls,” said Albemarle coach Jenn Martinelli. “When you’ve got illness that’s affecting five girls it makes a difference.”
A major bright spot, however, was Logan Wood’s solid performance in the net despite being elevated from the junior varsity just this week to step in for sophomore goalie Emily Johnson, one of the players who fell ill. Wood managed six saves on the night.
“That’s a big transition, that’s a big differentiation in backfields,” Martinelli said. “But the team did well. You’ve got to just kind of roll with it.”
The Hornets will try and keep the momentum going Thursday when they take on Monticello while the Patriots will try and heal up before hitting the road the same night to take on Louisa County.
