Even Western Albemarle field hockey team’s bench was getting a feeling that junior Grace Bynum was going to break through.
“She was playing well all game and some of the players on the sideline we saying they had a feeling it was going to be her that was scoring,” said Western head coach Milo Oakland. “She was playing cleanly with a lot of energy and when she plays like that she’s quite good.”
With a little more than 10 minutes left, Bynum did just that, breaking a stalemate to give Western Albemarle a 1-0 lead that held up for a win over Monticello.
The goal came off a Madison Masloff assist and put the Warriors over the top in a defensive struggle. Western’s offense simply couldn’t solve Monticello’s defense all night.
“They defended very hard and very thoroughly,” Oakland said. “Their goalie is quite good and that made things hard for us.”
Monticello’s keeper Lindsay Gunsallus is in her first year as a starter in the cage, taking over for longtime stalwart Emily Witzke, and Gunsallas made nine saves and countless other plays to keep the Warriors out of the back of the net. Gunsallas was active in the defensive zone while facing a barrage of attacks.
“She had some big shoes to fill but Lindsay has been training with Emily and everything so she is right where we need her to be,” said Monticello coach Katie Martin.
The Mustangs’ defense in front of Gunsallas was also a huge part of keeping the Warriors in check, with Paige McGlothlin keeping the Monticello defense together throughout.
“She and Josie Mallory were the reason we were able to contain that ball in the middle of the field so much,” Martin said. “They play our low center and high center mid positions, really difficult positions to play and their job is to lock down that entire middle section and they did. Paige has been really, really clutch for us”
Martin was particularly pleased with the effort from the Mustangs.
“This is, quite honestly, the best game of hockey against Western I’ve ever seen one of my Monticello teams play,” Martin said. “We were connecting all over the place, our defense was rock solid. I could not be more proud of how our defense played. I’ve never seen a team work so hard and so together on this turf.”
Western, however ended up walking away with the win, with Bynum’s score providing the difference when paired with another strong defensive effort by the Warriors. The return of Valerie Hajek in the midfield has given Western a steadiness and foundation early on this season while some other squads are looking for answers. That showed against the Mustangs.
“Our style was exactly what we want, I felt like we were in control and we got plenty of opportunities but they just made it really hard,” Oakland said. “We got right there, often within inches of the goal and Monticello just never gave up.”
The Mustangs continue a tough week with a battle against Charlottesville at home Thursday while Western will host Powhatan.
