By Price Thomas / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Attention Commonwealth District: You don’t score on Albemarle. The seemingly impenetrable Patriots defense pitched another shut-out and Taylor Hale scored an early second half goal to lead the undefeated Patriots to their fourth consecutive 1-0 win on Friday night over the visiting Massaponax Panthers.
Albemarle looked to improve upon an early season tie with the Panthers, and took the fight to the Panthers from the outset. Only two minutes into the contest Albemarle forward Maggie Tubridy found herself free in front of goal, however a sprawling effort from the Panther goalkeeper denied the Patriot markswoman from adding to her already impressive goal tally. Just under six minutes later, Tubridy again narrowly missed the back of the net, heading a beautifully weighted Abby Mathes cross inches over the crossbar. The lone Massaponax chance came with five minutes left to play in the half. The Panthers earned a free kick from 18 yards out, but Patriot goalkeeper Betsey Haugh was up to the challenge and the teams went into halftime dead locked at zero.
“At halftime I told them to keep the same thing going,” said Albemarle coach Jon Hall. “We play a passing game and sometimes we get away from what we do. We couldn’t find it in the first half but I told them it would happen. No team can run with us on this turf for 80 minutes.”
It only took 10 minutes for the Patriots to validate their coach’s claim, as senior Taylor Hale netted the game winner in the 50th minute of play.
“The ball was played in by Joy [Piirto] and it hit off Maggie Tubridy,” explained Hale, who will take her talents to Lynchburg College next year. “I was able to trap it with my knee and turned and shot it into the corner.”
As the game wound to a close, the Panthers attempted to throw Albemarle off of their game with an increased level of physicality. Ill timed tackles and yellow cards littered the final minutes of the contest, but the Patriots remained undeterred.
“We kill them with kindness,” joked Hale.
As the Patriots continue to rack up wins, Hall finds himself delighted by the unfamiliar territory.
“We have never been at this level in the 10 years I have been here so I will enjoy every game to its fullest,” Hall said. “I truly love this team. I love my players very much and the way we play the game as a unit. We have some stars without a doubt, but we are designed to work as a unit. They have bought into it and fought for it so I am enjoying the moment.”
As the Patriots look to wrap up their best season in program history with the next three Commonwealth District contests, they proved on Friday night that it will take more than a few bumps and bruises to throw their well oiled machine off its intended destination: a district title. They’ll try and keep that momentum going against Stafford Tuesday in Albemarle’s final regular season home game.
