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Relentless Rain: Albemarle girls soccer outlasts Western

Photo by Ashley Thornton

It was unbelievable at times how much rain came down during Western Albemarle and Albemarle’s girls soccer clash Thursday.

 

“It was a really new experience,” said Albemarle senior Brooke Bauman. “I’ve never played in anything like that.”

 

The boys game that preceded it was by no means a dry affair, but the rain grew more intense as the night wore on and the girls game was played in what amounted to a driving monsoon. Albemarle eventually escaped with a 5-2 win, but not before withstanding a deluge of water and a strong second half by the Warriors.

 

“We always talk about responding to adversity and that’s exactly what we were able to do,” said Albemarle coach Amy Sherrill. “Credit to Western for hitting those two goals but I’m proud of our response and ability to finish.”

 

Albemarle jumped out to a 3-0 lead by halftime and tacked on another quick goal in the second half to take a 4-0 lead. But Western rebounded, with Abigail Zimmerman scoring back-to-back goals around the 20 minute mark vaulted the Warriors back into the game and ended a long scoring drought against the Patriots.

 

“That’s what we’ve been telling them, we know we’re a good team (Albemarle) just has this edge on us,” said Western coach Jake Desch. “Getting that one was big, we knew we’d get another after that and we came really close to getting a third.”

 

The Warriors’ surge put Albemarle on its heels and disorganization after the first goal helped make the second goal happen, though it didn’t hurt that Zimmerman is a dynamic presence at the top of the formation.

 

Albemarle regrouped though and got back on course, rediscovering their shape defensively and tightening things up throughout the formation.

 

“We regrouped together, we were like ‘we really need to pick it up, this is not how we play, that’s not how we should react when something negative happens’,” Bauman said.

 

The Patriots had to make some big plays to get there. Aiyanah Tyler-Cooper made a big time save (one of her six on the night) and late in the game after an Albemarle red card, Western blasted a ball off the left post. Then Bauman found Makinna Winterton for a goal with seven minutes left that essentially iced the victory. The middle of the second half was essentially a mad scramble as Western put a lot of pressure on the Patriots, and the Winterton goal was almost a necessity despite Albemarle’s two-goal advantage.

 

“I feel like that was what really shut them down, it helped us to really secure our composure and know we’re in this game and we’re up,” Bauman said.

 

Obviously Western would’ve liked to complete the comeback, but the renewed effort in the second half was an incredible stretch and should give a well-tested Warriors squad some momentum down the stretch.

 

“This is a big game just because we competed and in the conditions we still played really good soccer,” Desch said. “We were competitive against a really, really good team and I think that’ll be a big step for us going forward.”

 

Albemarle’s three first half goals came on a Megan Schantz free kick that Katie Schnell finished off, a Fizzy Gonzalez strike with an assist from Bauman and a Leticia Frietas goal in the closing minutes before halftime with Schantz assisting. Gonzalez struck a second time with the early second half goal too, with Frietas setting her up.

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