Despite Charlottesville’s terrific season that’s led to a sterling record with four losses coming only at the hands of archrival Western Albemarle, the Black Knights faced an elimination game Tuesday night in the Jefferson District semifinals.
With their season on the line, Charlottesville proved up to the task and beat a scrappy Monticello squad 3-0 to earn a berth in the Region II tournament and the Jefferson District final.
The Black Knights’ standout scorer Kendall Ballard notched the first goal of the night, but Charlottesville continued to show the balance that they’ve flashed all season that’s made them a much tougher team to contend with this fall. Nell Ackerman and Annette Zenker finished off a goal each to turn a 1-0 halftime lead into a big-time advantage for the Black Knights.
“That’s something I’ve been really proud about with this team this year,” said Charlottesville coach Lindsay Larson. “Last year it really was all Kendall scoring, she had 90 percent of our goals. This year the wealth has been spread around. It’s great that we’ve had these girls stepping up and being able to finish. ”
Joanna Kammauff also posted yet another shutout for the Black Knights. The CHS keeper hasn’t surrendered a goal to any Jefferson District squad besides Western, shutting out Monticello three times this year.
It doesn’t hurt that Ballard so aggressively takes the fight to the opposition, keeping the ball in Charlottesville’s offensive zone sometimes single-handedly and unleashing an array of shots from creative angles that most other players aren’t capable of putting on goal.
“I think her biggest strength is her ball-handling skills,” said Monticello coach Karen Redd. “A lot of girls tend to just push it off their stick and it’s an easy ball. She keeps it on her stick and she keeps control.”
The Mustangs’ season ends with the loss to the Black Knights, capping a year where Monticello has managed to largely hold teams in check defensively — including forcing overtime with regular season champion Western Albemarle just last week. But the Mustangs’ offensive woes have continued preventing the squad from slipping into Region II play.
“We had some really strong seniors that taught these girls a lot,” Redd said. “They all learned from each other and they all worked hard together. That’s what they did tonight.”
The Black Knights will now face the Warriors Thursday in a battle for the Jefferson District tournament title. Game time is 7 p.m. up at Charlottesville. The Warriors have beaten the Black Knights twice this year, winning 2-1 and 1-0 in the previous meetings.
“We’ve been looking forward to a third shot since the second one,” Larson said. “We were a little banged up in the second meeting and we’re almost 100 percent so we’re excited for it.”
Western Albemarle moves on, Louisa wraps historic season
Western Albemarle field hockey won the regular season but faced an uphill climb with a banged up roster and without standout Morgan Schuler in the lineup against Louisa County in the Jefferson District semifinals.
“We’re a little bit under the weather,” Fields said. “Some girls have had some leg issues — we were just happy to get out there.”
The Warriors shook it off, however, and ripped off a 5-0 victory to advance to the district final.
The Warriors jumped out 1-0 on a Tess Lohr goal, but didn’t break through again against a stingy Louisa defense until 10 minutes were left in the first half and Becca Moriconi put one in the back of the net to give the Warriors some breathing room.
Rosalie Stoke, Alex Brown and Jessie Powell all also tallied goals to break things open. Powell’s fifth came late in the game with the seasoned Powell playing largely with Western’s reserves as the Warriors looked to rest up for the title game Thursday.
“We got a lot of kids some time and I’m happy with everything,” Fields said. “We kept the pressure on.”
While no team wants their season to end, Louisa County can take solace in the fact that they completed the finest season in program history. The Lions won the first field hockey game, then won a total of four contests including the Jefferson’s first round playoff game.
“I know my 12 seniors are going to be really sad that it’s over,” said Louisa coach Meredith Marconi. “But I think it’ll help the program because with our successes this season, we’re going to get a ton of more people coming out and playing field hockey and learning about it. I’m really excited for the offseason.”
Fields, who’s been an advocate for a strong district that will help produce more state title contending teams for some time, was full of praise for the Lions.
“I think (Marconi) does an excellent job, I think she’s building a nice program there,” Fields said. “If they ever got a chance to practice on turf, they’d be extremely tough, they’ve got a lot of good athletes out there. They’ll get caught up soon.”
This was the first season that Louisa’s seniors had the opportunity to play varsity for four full seasons
