When two teams like Covenant and Western Albemarle, with a grand total of seven seniors between them, lock up this early in the year, things are bound to be a little sloppy.
But Western Albemarle got the upperhand in the first quarter put together a performance good enough to trump Covenant 8-3 Tuesday night just a few days after the Warriors posted a more disjointed outing in a scrimmage against Albemarle late last week.
“I think we came out here with a different focus knowing it was a game,” said Western midfielder Abbot Wallenborn. “We knew we had to get things done, I think the guys’ confidence was really going.”
Western jumped out to a 3-1 lead before a Covenant goal cut the lead to 3-2. Minutes later, Wallenborn drove from the top of the restraining box, dodged to the right and unleashed a laser from about 15 yards out to put Western back up 1. It was the second leg of Wallenborn’s game-high hat trick, with all three coming in the first half. He added the third to put Western up 5-2 early in the second quarter, creating the shot by weaving back and forth for about 30 seconds left as Covenant’s defense collapsed on the senior before ripping another shot on the run.
“All those guys are big, athletic defenders and coming into the game, I knew I was going to have to create stuff out of nothing maybe,” Wallenborn said.
Schuyler Dickerson aided Wallenborn’s offensive burst with a pair of goals, one early in the first half and another on a rebound off a Ben Turner shot in the third quarter for a 7-2 Western lead. Kenny Gaspa, Robert Mellen and Thomas Dudley also scored for Western as the Warriors continued to create offense despite some typical early season consistency problems.
Western’s defense held strong throughout, allowing a pair of early goals by sophomore Will Grossman and junior Jack Murray. Western goalie Ben Carew rang up several solid saves on the night, including an impressive stop off his gloves in the second quarter on a point-blank shot by the Eagles.
Mostly though, Covenant’s offense helped the Warriors’ defense with a number of unforced turnovers and mistakes. The Eagles are rebuilding after graduating a slew of key offensive contributors like Kohls Godine, Alex Kuehler and Benji Colberg.
“We’re very young,” said Covenant coach Rich Little. “It’s going to take a little while to get some routine and some chemistry and that’s really what we’re struggling with. But the kids are eager.”
Western takes on Charlottesville Friday night in its next action while Covenant travels to Roanoke Catholic Thursday.
