Marina Clark just put Western Albemarle on her back.
“I just saw an opening and took a shot,” said Clark, a junior captain for the Warriors.
It wasn’t much of an opening. In fact, several defenders were making any opening tough to see.
With a few determined flicks of her foot and a drive in from the right side, Clark wove through a quartet of Monticello defenders, scoring the gamewinner in the second half giving Western all it needed as the Warriors hung on for a crucial 2-1 victory.
“Marina’s been a great captain for this team all year long and she didn’t want to lose tonight,” said Western coach Jake Desch.
The win keeps Western alive for a potential district title in a race that’s coming down to the final regular season contests with Charlottesville, the Mustangs and Fluvanna County all potentially in the mix.
Monticello drew first blood Tuesday night when Emily Larabee struck home a pass from Kristen Grimshaw from around 20 yards out with 12:33 to play in the first half. But Western refused to go into the break trailing, with Lauren Giovanoli breaking through with five minutes left before intermission with a hustle goal off a rebound. That equalizer created a deadlock that stretched deep into the second half before Clark made her terrific run.
From there, the Western defense and goalie Emily Marbury held on tight, with Marbury making several clutch saves when she had to while the Western midfield did a solid job of maintaining possession.
“Monticello played very well and in a lot of ways they outplayed us, but our girls were on a mission and they played through a tough game,” Desch said. “And we had a senior (Giovanoli) and a captain come through for us.”
Western faces Powhatan Wednesday night at home.
