Monticello had a great run to start and finish. Charlottesville had the run in the middle that was too much to overcome. Facing a 3-goal deficit in the first quarter, the Black Knights went on a tear between the second quarter and the beginning of the fourth led in large put by Will Steven’s ability to create behind the net. While things got dicey in the final two minutes of play, Charlottesville was able to hang on tight for a pivotal West Central Division win, 11-9.
“It was the senior leadership (that led the run),” said Charlottesville coach Drew Craft. “They’re pretty much calling out their own offense and I give them ideas, then they take it from there.”
The 9-2 run that began in at the end of the first quarter for Charlottesville came after Monticello start out with a 4-1 run to open. Mustangs midfielder Pierce English put Monticello on the board in the first minute, and moments later, Drew Gibson made it 2-0.
The Black Knights kept pace with a goal from Casey Devine. But back-to-back goals from Michael Darby put Monticello up 4-1 with just over nine minutes until the break.
“I wasn’t sure we were going to come out of that, this is a really good team we were playing,” Craft said. “We have so many seniors on the field at one time and they started making better decisions.”
It took a man-advantage opportunity to spark Charlottesville’s run, but once Will Werner made good on the opportunity, the spree was on. In the next four minutes the Black Knights got four more goals with Willis Bocock, Lucas Levine scoring and a pair of goals coming from Devine, including one with 4.1 seconds left to make it 6-4 in Charlottesville’s favor.
Monticello responded to start the third quarter with another goal from Darby, but it was the lone strike of the frame for the Mustangs. Charlottesville slowed things down offensively in the second half, dominating the time of possession battle and watched Stevens go to work as he scored three goals in the frame with Bocock netting another to pump the lead up to 10-6.
“We really stressed in practice about coming out here and going hard because this was the first (divisional) game,” Stevens said. “We really wanted to set the tone for the rest of the season and I think we did a good job of that.”
The fourth quarter played out very slowly until Will Snipes connected on a pass from Chase Phillips. With just under six minutes to go, Brodie Phillips scored on another pass from Chase Phillips to make it a 2-goal contest. Charlottesville went to work on the clock after that, but in a 14-second stretch inside of two minutes to play, Chase Phillips and Brodie Phillips found a way to make it a 1-goal game.
“It’s one of those things where we had trouble in the middle section of the game, a lot like when we played against Salem, but I’ve got to give it to the guys for battling and working finishing the game strong,” said Monticello coach Matt Hicks.
When the Black Knights got the ensuing faceoff they forced Monticello to pursue and Bocock’s play behind the goal allowed him to work around to an empty net and put the game away.
“This means a lot this early in the year for when we head to play other quality teams,” Craft said of winning close. “Every close game we can get in, win or lose will be a good thing going ahead.”
On the night, Stevens, Bocock and Devine all had hat tricks for Charlottesville. Stevens and Devine both had an assist each. Werner had a goal and an assist to go with a game high nine ground balls.
For Monticello, Brodie Phillips and Darby had two goals each. Chase Phillips finished with a goal and two assists. Snipes had a goal and an assist. Goalkeeper George Van Dyke led the Mustangs with six ground balls and also had 13 saves in net.
“Van Dyke is one of those senior leaders on the team that you just love to have because he really gives it all he’s got whenever he’s out there,” Hicks said.
Charlottesville (3-3, 1-0) travel to Fluvanna County on Friday at 7 p.m.
Monticello (4-2, 0-1) has a break before hosting Albemarle on April 16th at 7:30 p.m.
