By Nicholas Eilerson / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
More than 20 minutes into Monday night’s varsity girls’ soccer contest at Charlottesville High, the 2010 Region II semifinalist Black Knights remained deadlocked with Goochland, a team that finished last year with a 2-13-1 record. The problem? They weren’t playing like World Cup champions.
When his team entered the half clinging to a 2-0 lead, CHS coach Fernando Operé, a native of Spain, implored his girls to play a more methodical style of soccer that emphasized quick passing rather than reckless runs down the middle of the pitch. The Black Knights unleashed a litany of shots during the opening half, but most of them sailed out of bounds from long range. Goal-scoring opened up in the second half when CHS found the back of the net four times, an impressive turnaround that largely came from compact passing in the field’s final third.
After the game Operé attributed his team’s improvement to this change in style, all the while sounding like a veritable Spanish footballer.
“We started moving the ball better in the second half, making more triangles and moving the ball quickly,” Operé said. “Everybody wants to score instead of passing, passing, passing. I think in the second half we had much better combinations.”
Sophomore midfielder Althea Pickering broke the ice in the 24th minute, hammering home a loose ball in the middle of the box to give CHS a 1-0 lead. The Black Knights continued to pour the pressure on the Bulldogs for the rest of the half, but a combination of wayward shots and saves from freshman goalkeeper Jessie Short kept the score close. A second CHS goal finally came from sophomore forward Abigail Intolubbe-Chmil, who ran down a nice cross into space and one-timed her shot past a helpless Short.
The Black Knights’ dominance in the second half was thorough, as four more CHS players notched goals while Goochland a still developing program, struggled to advance the ball past midfield.
After three CHS shots clanged off the crossbar to open the second stanza, senior defender Tori Shaffrey juked past a defender on the left sideline and slipped a shot near-post to give the Knights a commanding 3-0 advantage. Six minutes later, senior center midfielder Ellie VonStorch raced by Goochland’s last defender and rocketed a shot into the side-netting for her team’s fourth goal.
“The biggest thing was just moving off the ball,” VonStorch said. “We were super stagnant in the first half, just kind of waiting around for things to happen. Obviously nothing was going on so [in the second half] we were just trying to get runs off the ball, playing one and two-touch, just keeping it simple, and it worked out.”
With less than eight minutes to play, CHS junior defender Kellie Havens swung a high cross from the left flank to the head of senior forward Ariel Lieberman, who redirected the ball well above Short’s reach for another CHS goal. Sophomore forward Kelsey Brownrigg added to the scoring flurry just 30 seconds later when her shot took a deflection into the goal.
Despite the decisive win, CHS players and coaches still felt there was room for improvement.
“I think we just need more games,” Operé said. “We started the season recently, we’ve had some rain-out days and we haven’t played many games. Practice is good, but you don’t know who you are until you play more games.”
CHS travels to William Monroe Thursday for a 6:30 p.m. showdown. Goochland will take on Louisa County Thursday in their third Jefferson District tilt.
