Sometimes two really, really good teams meet up too early in the playoffs. There’s little question after the dust settled about the respect that Albemarle has for Briar Woods after their Region 5A quarterfinal. While the Patriots were able to establish some semblance of control in the second half, this game was a war. It’s pace was silly. Both teams had depth, speed and creativity, and of course, a pair of college bound goal keepers. And until Brendan Moyers delivered a goal that almost wasn’t, the story of the Patriots 1-0 win over the Falcons was all about defense.
“Absolutely without a doubt, the best team we’ve faced all year,” said Albemarle coach Jeff Balnave. “The defense held strong. That was a gut-check game where we had to scratch and claw and we gave up some chances but created a bunch too. In the second half we possessed a lot more after kicking it in the first because we were under so much pressure. What a great team performance. I’m really at a loss for words for such a good win.”
Until Moyers broke the ice in the track meet that was these two teams getting together, Albemarle’s Jake Gelnovatch and Briar Woods’ Colin Shulter stole the show. The two will see each other again with Gelnovatch headed to Louisville and Shulter going to the University of Virginia. While Gelnovatch’s free ranging play kept him from facing too many threats, Shulter’s save at the start of the second half on a diving play off what should have been a Brandon Mahon goal upped the ante.
“That was a great chance and their keeper was great, it was an incredible sequence” Balnave said.
Gelnovatch’s save on a well struck shot from Justin Corlett with 12:55 left in the second was his most impressive of eight he made the night, and one that shifted the momentum to Albemarle as it would finally slip one past Shulter a few minutes later.
“That’s the best attacking team we’ve seen so far, so it was about maintaining composure on the ball and moving on and off and communicating,” Gelnovatch said.
In the first half Albemarle had three scoring chances but couldn’t get any of them on net. Briar Woods squandered a free kick early in the first and missed the net on a solid opportunity with 20 minutes until the break.
After Mahon’s near miss, the tide changed from a back-and-forth battle at mid-field to a more Albemarle friendly game as Moyers, Mahon, Andrew Weber and Junior River-Hernandez started clicking. Moyers had a free kick from 35 yards out that just sailed wide and Weber just missed moments later. But with just under eight minutes to go, Weber saw Moyers streaking down the middle of the field, found him and Moyers went for the far left side of the net. Shulter got a piece of it, but the ball slowed down and somehow squeeked in past the post.
“At first I thought it was going wide and I kept running after it and then finally saw it was going to hit the post and go in,” Moyers said. “I was so tired when it happened I couldn’t really celebrate but I was so excited.”
The Albemarle senior nearly had another with three minutes on the clock but this time Shulter came up with another diving stop. The Patriots defense kept Gelnovatch safe to wrap up the game with Briar Woods unable to get the ball anywhere but the sidelines.
“I think we stepped it up as the game went along and got them tired,” Moyers said. “That allowed us to play quicker, get some more through balls forward and go and outrun them.”
Albemarle heads to Mountain View on Wednesday for the Region 5A North semifinals. The Patriots beat the Wild Cats 2-1 in a regular season meeting earlier this year in overtime.
