Whatever it is that a banged up Western Albemarle boys soccer squad is putting things together with, so far, so good. The Warriors beat Waynesboro 3-1 Friday night in the Conference 29 quarterfinals.
“We’re still not at full strength,” said Western Albemarle coach Paul Rittenhouse. “Aidan Sinclair didn’t play until the second half, Daniel Forsman is nursing a hamstring injury, Jake Polson is recovering from a concussion. We’re still trying to hold things together with duct paper and bandaids and rubberbands and paper clips.”
The Warriors had to overcome some serious adversity in an occasionally chippy game that also included a pair of penalty kicks. The first of those penalty kicks allowed Waynesboro to equalize the game midway through the first half after Colin Moore scored the opening goal to put the Warriors up 1-0.
That left the Warriors battling through a deadlock throughout the middle stages of the game with the sixth-seeded Little Giants fighting tooth and nail to try and prevent a go-ahead goal.
“That’s a good test for us,” Rittenhouse said. “The fact that we survived and were able to battle that, I’d like to hope that that prepares us. Things can always get scrappy.”
The second penalty kick made a big difference for the Warriors as Moore slotted it in with 23:45 to play in the contest. That lead held up, with Aidan Sinclair scoring an insurance goal late to push Western to the win and into the Conference 29 semifinals. The Warriors will face Stuarts Draft, who beat Monticello 4-3 in overtime PKs to earn a semifinal berth.
