It had the quality and feel of a playoff game in March, which wouldn’t be that odd except that it was soccer.
Thursday afternoon, defending VISAA Division I champion St. Anne’s-Belfield girls squad edged out Region II contender Western Albemarle 2-1 in front of a supportive Western home contingent led by the Warriors’ boys squad.
“I have full respect for Western Albemarle’s soccer program — they are one of the premier programs in the county and in the state,” said STAB coach Mark O’Donnell. “We’re just grateful they put us on the schedule. It was a well-played game and it was very respectful among the girls. Any time we can play where we live it’s wonderful.”
Kylie Hegemier finished off a goal off a strong Tayloranne Berry cross out of the corner to put the Saints up with about 15 minutes to play. From there, O’Donnell made it clear the Saints were going to treat it like a playoff game, protecting heavily against the equalizer by packing it in against the Warriors.
“I don’t want to say we bunkered in, but at a certain point we were like, if we’re going to practice managing in a big game situation, let’s practice it now,” O’Donnell said. “Why wait until the playoffs? We don’t have to score again, let’s just hold them off.”
It presented both teams with challenges the two powers don’t always face outside of league play, and both rose to the occasion. Marina Clark evened the game for the Warriors, in the early stages of the second half, powering home a gritty goal off a rebound. STAB countered by opening up the attack more, with Haley Kent operating in the midfield and Berry creating a number of chances out on the wing for Hegemier, the dynamic striker who earned state player of the year honors last year. Berry’s sharp play seemed to make things tough on Western, which was a positive for the Saints, who had to play a little chess against Western coach Jacob Desch and the Warriors’ dynamic standouts Marina Clark and Anna Sumpter.
“(Clark) was giving us fits,” O’Donnell said. “I thought (Clark) really checked back for the ball really well and kept getting around the backside. (Sumpter) is incredibly dynamic and quick, we actually started to man-mark her with Lexi Mallory just to try to do that. I give all the credits to our centerbacks…we just started intercepting their crosses because (Clark) was getting the ball across, she was doing exactly what she’s supposed to do.”
Both keepers, Western’s Emily Marbury and STAB’s Lauren Gammper, proved up to the task, with the Warriors and Saints both having to work for the three total goals.
Sophia Rhafiri scored the first goal of the game for the Saints off a Hegemier assist.
The Warriors get a week-long break before taking the field again against another challenging opponent, this time on the road against Blacksburg. The Saints will take on Virginia Episcopal Tuesday on the road at 4:30 p.m.
