Western Albemarle scored early in regulation, Charlottesville scored late, and neither team broke through in extra time as the Warriors and Black Knights boys soccer teams played to a turbulent 1-1 draw in the first meeting between the two Jefferson District heavyweights.
Said Osmaan buried a header off a mad scramble off a free kick in the 75th minute, allowing Charlottesville to play 10 extra minutes after failing to solve Jack Frey and the Western defense for the vast majority of regulation.
“I was just trying to get one so I could get my team to overtime, and maybe to the win.” Osman said. “Malcolm [Brickhouse] hit a great cross, and I just saw the call and put it in.”
Osmaan’s late tally answered one from Western’s Gabe Nafziger, who put the Warriors up by getting behind the defense and beating Charlottesville keeper Nathan Fisher exactly four minutes in, a goal that would prove to be against the run of play. Charlottesville generated five first-half corner kicks, but only had two shots to show for them.
Fisher kept them in the game with a sliding save on Barclay Bright in the 21st minute, but Western continued to attack. They nearly doubled their lead just before halftime when Nafziger snuck behind the defense similar to his early goal, but this time his shot bounced just wide of the net.
The same thing happened in the 44th minute, and later on Noah Adderly had a shot that also went tantalizingly close before veering off. Meanwhile, the Black Knights got more aggressive on offense, and Western’s inability to capitalize on its earlier chances came back to haunt them in the end.
“The fact that CHS is so talented and well-coached, to pull out a tie is something that part of you is excited about,” Western coach Milo Oakland said. “But at the same time, the chances we had make you wonder and wish for more.”
Nafziger had one final chance to break the tie in second-half stoppage time, but his shot from the right side was stopped as Fisher slid to his knees for the save. Just before the final whistle, another Charlottesville header sailed over the net as regulation came to an end.
“Our offense is generally pretty well-balanced,” Oakland said. “But Gabe was aggressive tonight, he was willing to take guys on and do what it took to win.”
Osmaan very nearly ended the game with three minutes left in extra time, but Frey made an unbelievable twisting save with his right foot to preserve the tie.
Western travels to Fluvanna on Thursday. Charlottesville has a week off before playing Monticello on the road on April 22.
