Lesley Gourdet is a pretty laid back guy. But last Thursday, even clad in an island print shirt, an oyster shell necklace and sandals, the Western Albemarle girls soccer coach was pretty tense in the second half. But why wouldn’t he be — Western had a 1-0 lead and no player on his roster had ever beaten the mighty Black Knights in a varsity game.
“We were excited — we knew they were going to come out in the second half a little bit more aggressive,” Gourdet said. “I didn’t want us to play their game, I wanted to play our game.”
Western managed to hold on to that 1-0 lead despite a late onslaught from the Black Knights, leaning on an incredible defensive effort by a quintet of players—Erica Bressler, Kelly Abrams and Erin Steva combined with freshmen Kamila Setaro and Abiah Pritchard. The five standouts repelled several solid chances for the Black Knights, coming with spectacular plays and routine actions that prevented an equalizer from sneaking through.
“I don’t know how many shutouts we’ve had straight now,” Gourdet said. “Early in the season we were just losing or tying at the very last second, but we addressed that and they continued to play well.”
Charlottesville had three different opportunities in the final 11 minutes, but each time, be it a corner kick or a simple run and cross, Western had the answer.
“They are very well organized on defense these girls,” said CHS coach Fernando Opere of Western. “That’s a very good team.”
The goal by Western in the first half came on an incredibly well struck entry pass from Western’s Everleigh Stokes. Stokes kicked the ball across toward Julie Nolet, but it slipped past Nolet and on to the waiting foot of sophomore Katie Farina, who sent it home. Stokes, who was injured earlier in the year, recently returned to the lineup, and setting up what became the game-winner against the Black Knights was a pretty solid way to come back.
“This was quite a comeback, but I’m mostly excited for my teammates because there’s a lot of seniors on the team that haven’t ever beaten CHS,” Stokes said.
The loss may not be the worst thing to happen to Charlottesville, who’d won several games in a row by eight or more goals prior to eking out a win against William Monroe early last week.
“We have to play like we did in the second half, I think we played with a lot of intensity,” Opere said. “We just need to play like that for 80 minutes.”
Western (8-2-1 in Jefferson play) faces another tough test Monday, going toe-to-toe with Monticello. The Mustangs now sit at 9-1-1 on the year in JD play. Charlottesville was unbeaten. With Fluvanna County at 6-3-2 and William Monroe only losing to the Black Knights by a single goal, the Jefferson District girls soccer tournament, slated for a May 21 start, is shaping up to be an exciting set of games with solid games all over the tournament.
State tournament action starts in private school ranks
While some of the public school district tournaments are still a week or two away, the private schools enter state tournament action this week, and a number of squads are primed for big runs.
St. Anne’s-Belfield has three teams who will host Tuesday playoff games according to the school’s website, with STAB baseball (currently on a tear having last lost back on March 23) as well as boys and girls lacrosse taking the field in state quarterfinals.
Alan Swanson’s baseball squad faces Trinity Episcopal, who they beat 8-7 on April 13 in the quarterfinals for the right to advance to the semis in Colonial Heights at Shepherd Stadium.The girls lacrosse squad takes on Fredericksburg Academy, a team Covenant handled easily last week in the VIC tournament while the boys team, seeded No. 2 in the state, goes toe-to-toe with rival Woodberry Forest for the second time in 10 days.
Covenant also has several teams in the state quarterfinals mix. The Eagles’ baseball team hosts Hampton Roads Academy at 4:30 Tuesday. The boys tennis team hosts Norfolk Christian, also Tuesday at 4:30. The girls lacrosse team heads to Cape Henry in Virginia Beach for a 4:30 p.m. Tuesday matchup.
Covenant’s girls lacrosse team isn’t the only squad set to face Cape Henry. Blue Ridge’s boys lacrosse team will head to the beach too for a No.4 versus No. 5 tilt in the Division II tournament.
