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Murphy nets two, Western boys soccer defeats Monticello 3-0

 

Western Albemarle head coach Milo Oakland says that the boys’ soccer competition in the Jefferson District has been particularly tough this season. There are a lot of quality teams which makes wins, and especially shutouts, harder to come by. 

 

On the road at Monticello on Monday night, however, Oakland’s Western squad did just that, defeating the Mustangs 3-0. 

 

“Winning by a shutout has been a lot harder this year in the Jefferson District,” Oakland said after the game. “They [Monticello] played a good game. They hit the post a couple of times. They definitely could have scored on us and had their chances. I think we got lucky a couple of times but of course we’re thrilled to have gotten the shutout.” 

 

The Warriors got a few lucky breaks, but their defense was stout. Monticello managed only a few shots on goal, which were expertly handled by senior goalkeeper Ryan Marks. For most of the game, Western did not allow the Mustangs to possess the ball past midfield, and stopped Monticello runs before they could result in quality shots. 

 

“The defense is all in the effort and we laid it all out on the field there tonight so that felt great to not let up a goal,” said junior Sam Vigilante. 

 

“Our defensive pressure, especially in the midfield, was very good,” Oakland added. 

 

Western played aggressively from start to finish. John Magargee nearly scored less than four minutes into the game on a strong shot that Monticello goalkeeper Jason Armstrong got a diving hand on to send it deflecting off the left post. 

 

Nearly midway through the first half, Western broke through to score the game’s first goal. Williamson made a run from the right side and fed the ball inside to Lachlan Murphy who put it in the back corner of the goal to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead. 

 

“We definitely needed some early momentum,” Murphy said of his first goal. “That’s one of the things that we talked about before the game.”

 

Monticello’s Seth Winchel nearly scored the equalizer a few minutes later but his shot went just over the crossbar. Drew Hall added a shot on goal for the Mustangs late in the half but it was saved by Marks. At halftime, Western led 1-0. 

 

Monticello came out aggressively after halftime, as Winchel and Dylan Scheel had great looks to tie the game for the Mustangs in the first two minutes of the second half, but neither shot found their mark. 

 

Murphy responded by scoring his second goal of the game. Murphy got loose on a through ball up the right side, sidestepped a defender and put it past Armstrong to extend Western’s lead to two goals. 

 

“He’s very athletic, very strong, with a good head on his shoulders”, Oakland said of Murphy. “He’s the kind of guy you feel you can play at any position and he’d figure it out and get it done. He stepped up the way he always does.” 

 

After Monticello hit the crossbar on a shot a few minutes later, Murphy nearly scored his third goal on a run to the front of the goal but Armstrong slid in and covered it before Murphy could shoot.  With just over fifteen minutes to play in the game, Western got their third goal on a free kick from Casey Williamson from just outside the box on the left side that Armstrong batted down but right to Western’s Alex Keeton who headed it in to make it 3-0. 

 

The Western defense held strong for the rest of the game to complete the shutout. 

 

Western will play at Louisa on June 3rd, while Monticello plays at Albemarle on Thursday. 

 

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