Apparently three is Western Albemarle’s magic number. The top-seeded Warriors dominated possession and dispatched Broadway 3-0 to capture their third straight Conference 29 title on Thursday night in a game played at Fluvanna County High School.
Western (16-3) posted its sixth straight shutout and will host a first-round game on Tuesday in the first round of the 3A West Region tournament.
“[The win is] good for us. It sets us on a roll for the postseason, which is really important to get momentum going into big games,” said senior captain Caroline Riordan. “We work on playing really fast and finding each other quickly, especially using our outside backs, who do a great job of getting up and getting back. So just switching the ball and playing quickly is one of our goals and it’s great to work on in games like this.”
The Warriors didn’t waste time in getting on the board, as Caitlin Harvey put a perfectly placed ball over the Broadway goalkeeper’s head in the middle of the net at the 31:37 mark in the first half. According to Harvey, the team’s leading scorer, it was just the boost the team needed.
“When we score first, it gets the team all hyped up,” said Harvey, a sophomore forward who has 14 goals on the year. “If we don’t score first we’re lazy, so it’s a main goal for us to score really early.”
Western, using crisp passing, maintained its intensity the rest of the first half to control the ball. The Warriors had plenty of opportunities to score, but the Gobblers kept them at bay with a solid performance in goal from Abby Jessup.
Broadway (15-2-2) came out more aggressively in the second half with several decent looks, but the Warriors’ defense, led by Riordan and goalkeeper Natalie Marbury, shut down the No. 2 seed.
“Obviously they’re a No. 1 seed for a reason,” Broadway coach Bobby Mongold said. “I thought the first half they were stepping to balls a lot harder than we were and we played back on our heels a little. In the second half, we stepped to the ball a little harder and communicated better but you’re behind the eight ball to Western — they’re so skilled at every spot.”
Western tacked on a pair of second-half goals as junior Ava Coles tapped it in from close range and freshman Katrine Berg had a beautiful shot from the left side with 13:05 remaining.
“It’s great for the program, it’s great for the kids,” Western Albemarle coach Jacob Desch said. “I’m glad we were able to withstand against a strong Broadway team. They played really hard and they were frustrating for us. But our girls persevered and we talked about pressuring them and [having] no turnovers and we finally got one.”
Both teams advance to the region tournament, which begins next week. Turner Ashby, a 3-1 winner over Fluvanna County in the consolation game, also secured a berth in the tournament.
