It was hard for Emily Larrabee to put into words. And who can blame her. The freshman forward had just scored a pair of goals in overtime in her Jefferson District debut for Monticello to spark the Mustangs to a 3-1 victory.
“It was just right in front of me,” Larrabee said. “I don’t even know what to say.”
Larrabee’s goals came in the second overtime against a Fluvanna program that’s challenged for a district title the last few years. Fluvanna suffered a pair of key injuries during the first half, but the game remained hotly contested, with Larrabee and senior Jessie Wingo coming together for the one key moment that turned the match in Monticello’s favor.
“(Wingo and I) talked about it right before the overtime and I mentioned that (lofting the ball) had worked for the first goal,” Larrabee said.
Minutes later, that conversation paid big dividends. Wingo hit a high, arching shot into the box with about 2:45 to play in the final overtime and Larrabee got her foot on it, one-touching it for the winner. Wingo found Keara Dunnington on a similar play late in the first half that allowed the Mustangs to quickly answer Tyler Drake’s goal for the Flucos that put Fluvanna up 1-0.
That halftime tie set the stage for a second half where neither team could come up with a goal despite multiple strong chances. The stalemate held into the first overtime before Larrabee broke the tie. The insurance goal, another Larrabee creation came with just seconds left in the overtime period.
Fluvanna managed to stay calm and together despite a frustrating first half that included injuries to goalie Emily Brown and midfielder Melissa Messier. Brown collided with Monticello’s Claire Wolanski with just under 20 minutes to play and Messier’s injury came just seconds later. Still, Drake and the rest of the Fluvanna strikers gave the Flucos a chance with an aggressive, physical attack.
“It’s a loss but it’s early in the season and that’s a good thing,” said Fluvanna coach Tara Garcia. “How we move on from this loss will be a great depiction of our season.”
Monticello managed to counter that physicality much better in the second half, coming out strong out of the gate in the midfield.
“It was a tough game the whole way through and at times I thought, wow, they really are dominating us,” said Monticello coach Jessie Wright. “But we turned it back around and it got to be a lot more even.”
Fluvanna (2-1), who beat Powhatan twice to start the season by a combined score of 11-2, will look to bounce back from the loss Monday afternoon against Western Albemarle on the road. Monticello (1-1) hosts William Monroe.
