As far as the scoring went, it couldn’t have been more of a back-and-forth, except for the eight minute stretch in the first half. And that scoring stretch wound up providing the difference as Monticello ran their offensive sets efficiently, scored and won the ensuing draws to the tune of a 5-0 run. With just a pair of offsetting goals in the second half, the Mustangs were able to hold strong and pick up an 8-4 win over Charlottesville.
“Once we saw the opportunities and settled for them we wound up taking advantage of them,” said Monticello coach Karen Hackett. “Once you see that you can hit that spot and get off that shot you’ve got to go with it and go with it.”
The teams had been going punch for punch and the score was knotted up at two before Lisa Marshall, Jessie Valentic and Briana Slate assumed control of the game. The Mustangs took their time when they had possession, often working through two and three plays before attempting a shot – a bit of a change from a lot of the fast break scoring they leaned on in their previous three games.
“Usually our offense is kind of here and there,” Marshall said. “ We definitely were able to take control there and score when we needed to score. (Scoring on fast breaks) is our known fashion so we switched it up a little bit.”
In the final two minutes of play, Charlottesville was able to stop the bleeding and go into second half trailing by five.
“I think we had a lot jitters in the first half but were able to calm down in the second,” said Charlottesville coach Lauren Smith. “I also thought our offense started to make better decisions.”
Early in the second half Harding Coughter and the Black Knights were able to cut the lead down to four, but could not put together a run to even the game up.
As they did in the first half, Monticello won the time of possession battle, but wasn’t able to find the same success in the scoring department as Charlottesville goalkeeper Annie Foky imposed her will in net.
The senior netminder was stellar in the circle as she managed to stop 16 of the 31 shots she faced.
Foky’s younger sister, Michaela, finished with a goal and an assist as did Ellie Barber.
For Monticello, Marshall finished with a pair of goals and an assist. Valentic and Slate also scored twice. Anna Bagley had a goal to go with her two assists.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at Charlottesville but weather moved the game over to Monticello because of the Mustangs’ field turf.
The Black Knights (1-4, 0-1) will travel to James River on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The Mustangs (4-0, 1-0) host E.C. Glass today at 1:30 p.m.
