Western Albemarle and James Wood’s girls soccer teams were going at it Tuesday night.
With a state final four berth on the line, the game was an all out battle.
“That whole game was a battle — physically and mentally,” said Western Albemarle’s Reese Mattern.
Western was clearly up for the battle and beat James Wood 1-0 with a late goal by Mattern in the VHSL Class 4 state quarterfinals, earning Western a spot in Friday’s state final four.
Western came up with the decisive goal it had to have with six minutes to play, cashing in on a corner kick opportunity when sophomore Emily Schinstock knocked it in, Phebe Ryan let it pass through and Mattern came barrelling through and finished it off with a clean look.
“The ball kind of skipped through people’s legs and that one was just perfectly placed, there was a wide open gap and I just slotted it into the corner,” Mattern said.
Before that breakthrough, Western had been battling constantly, with Elana Romesburg holding up in goal to maintain the shutout. James Wood had a loaded lineup and that tested the Warriors, but Western started to make some serious headway in the second half.
“We fought to the end and you could see towards the end that we were getting way more opportunities and chances in the box,” Mattern said. “We just calmed down and played a faster pace.”
That set the stage for that incredible corner and the dogpile celebration that followed. Western got a chance to feel out how James Wood would defend the corners when they earned a number of them early in the contest.
“We had a lot of corners early in the game and we were able to kind of be decisive in the air – it was kind of a mess up corner honestly but Phebe was able to dummy it and Reese was able to get on the end of it,” Schinstock said.
It was an impressive effort to hang in the tough, physical contest for a Western team that boasts just four seniors and relies on a number of freshmen and sophomores to play key roles.
“They just kept pushing and pushing and pushing and finally got one,” said Western coach Kristie Braunston. “We’ve got five freshmen on the team and it’s a really great opportunity for them – I’m really happy for the seniors who get to do this again.”
