Feeding Joie Funk wasn’t really a part of the gameplan — Western Albemarle takes a more egalitarian approach on offense and gets everyone involved.
But Thursday night against Monticello, Funk got the ball a lot while she was open and she delivered nearly every time.
“The ball just kept coming and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” Funk said.
Funk poured in three goals, capping the hat trick with two second half goals that put the game largely out of reach for the Mustangs, with her third goal coming at 23:44 left in the game. The win, which ran Western’s Jefferson District record to 8-0, comes just a few weeks after the Warriors struggled against some stout opponents early in the year. Since that time, the Warriors have made some particularly big strides on the offensive end.
“We’ve done a lot more give and go drills and our coach has given us a lot more advice on how to do it,” Funk said. “Our bond is getting stronger, we know each and where we are.”
The Warriors’ offense has come along steadily, building off of a stingy, savvy defense that is doing a tremendous job of limiting opponents’ chances to even get a shot off.
“Everything on our offense has been built on that defense,” said Western coach Milo Oakland. “We’ve been working on defense and making sure that’s a priority for us and that’s allowed us to take some risks and flourish a bit on offense.”
Lily Stoke scored the Warriors’ second goal to help spark Western to a 2-0 halftime lead. The Warriors had a number of good chances in the first half, but Monticello keeper Emily Witzke made a number of key saves before suffering a second half hip injury.
“That’s one thing Emily has been doing a great job of is learning when to be patient and when to come out, step up and tackle that shot,” said Monticello coach Katie Martin. “She’s just come so far.”
Western keeper Gina Repich managed the shutout for the Warriors in the cage.
The Warriors will try and run their Jefferson District record to 9-0 against Powhatan Tuesday while Monticello tries to bounce back Monday against Albemarle.
