One hundred minutes of soccer was not enough to decide a winner Friday afternoon, as the first semifinal of the group AAA state tournament came down to a penalty kick shootout where the Albemarle boys soccer team defeated Lake Braddock 3-1 advancing to the Group AAA title game following a 1-1 tie in regulation.
Albemarle opened the scoring in the 11th minute of play when senior Alex Bohn sent a shot to the upper left corner over Lake Braddock goalkeeper Aaron Fausser after receiving a long ball played from the midfield by senior Jon Mathes.
The chances continued for both teams throughout the half, as Albemarle sophomore goalkeeper Matt Natale came up with a save from a close-range shot midway through the half, only to continue his dominance by grabbing a dangerous ball bending to the far post off a free kick from Lake Braddock’s Reynaldo Pastor just five minutes later.
The Albemarle offense kicked it into high gear to end the half, as Bohn found the feet of senior Kai Marshall just a few yards from goal, who released a shot the Lake Braddock keeper had to dive to save.
Senior Shane Rose found Marshall next, on a breakaway cleared out for a throw in deep in Lake Braddock territory. On the ensuing throw in, a foul on the edge of the box provided the Patriots with an opportunity to score, but a loose ball in front of the goal was eventually cleared out.
In the second half, Albemarle quickly found themselves on defense, as Bohn did well to clear a cross from Lake Braddock’s Byron Ortiz before Natale came up with huge back to back saves, diving back to tip two free kicks over the crossbar within a two minute span.
Lake Braddock finally broke through just four minutes later, as Zack Hopkins got his head on a Issac Villa header to even the score with 28 minutes remaining in regulation.
“I thought we played really well in the first half. We lost a little bit of the tenacity we had in the first half in the second half and didn’t play as well,” said Albemarle head coach Scott Jackson.
Both sides had chances to end the half, including another breakaway combination between Rose and Marshall and a Bohn cross looking for freshman Jesus Duran that went out for a corner. Ultimately, however, the score remained 1-1 at the end of 80 minutes, sending the game to overtime.
Albemarle dominated the ensuing extra time, with Natale coming up big on a shot from close range in the first period and going out of his box to clear a bouncing ball with his head in the third period.
“We fought hard; towards the end of that overtime period, I thought we were really dominating,” Rose said.
Marshall had two quality chances for the Patriots, missing wide on a breakaway in one minute into sudden death play, and failing to convert on another breakaway in the final minutes of play.
“I think our fitness showed. We kind of turned it back on in the overtime; I thought we were going to win the game on a couple opportunities, but we just didn’t score,” Jackson said.
Natale started penalty kicks the way he left off during the game, making a diving save on Lake Braddock’s first attempt, a strike from senior captain Tyler Durbin.
Rose converted on Albemarle’s first attempt to put the Patriots ahead.
“It was a huge confidence builder for everyone else. That fact that Shane hit his first shot, and Matt made the first save, I think that set us up. It kind of took the wind out of [Lake Braddock’s] sails,” Jackson said.
Lake Braddock’s Aaron Hollins stepped up to take the Bruins’ second kick only to send the shot wide before Albemarle took a 2-0 lead thanks to a conversion from junior Luc Fatton.
The third time didn’t prove to be the charm for Lake Braddock, as Adam Rothe’s shot hit the post, keeping the Bruins’s penalty kick tally at zero. Albemarle would not convert in the third round either, as Kai Marshall’s attempt was saved forcing a fourth round.
Hopkins converted for Lake Braddock, but it proved to be too little too late, as Duran buried his attempt to give the Patriots a 3-1 penalty kick victory.
“I knew there was a lot of pressure on me, but I just cleared my mind and took a deep breath and made that goal,” Duran said.
Natale’s first save set the tone for the shootout, propelling the Patriots to the victory.
“I just thought our team would take it out. That’s all I had to make, but a couple more lucky saves, and our team finished it out for us,” he said.
Albemarle advances to the state title game for the first time in school history. They will face Commonwealth District foe Colonial Forge for the fifth time this season at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Westfield Jubilee.
