Covenant had the advantage, keeping Monticello from registering a shot on goal, but despite the first and second half scoring chances, albeit few, they had nothing to show for it. A little more than halfway through sudden death overtime the Eagles watched a pair of other opportunities fall short too. But finally on a short corner, Megan Frey was able to get off a perfect pass to Taylor Brown and the University of Virginia commit came through, unloading a shot into the back of the cage to propel the Eagles to a 1-0 road win led by 60 minutes of defense first.
“I’m really happy with the way the midfield and forward line stepped up today,” said Covenant coach Kate Lavie. “The big role for a forward line is to play defense all the way back until it’s in our circle and that gap is usually what gets teams in trouble.”
There weren’t a lot of short corners in the game, but the vast majority went to Covenant and when the Eagles went to their playbook, they didn’t mask much, Frey went to Brown each time and the senior cranked shot after shot. But it wasn’t until overtime when the All-VISAA star was able to get a clean and clear shot off.
“There’s no real explanation,” Brown said. “It kind of just happens. Everyone has a good skill and it all gets put together and ends up getting a goal and a win.”
For Dittmar, the feeling this year is as though with the greater the pressure, the greater the resilience.
“When the pressure is on we play better as a unit, play more like a family,” said Covenant’s Virginia Dittmar. “We really see the pass, we’re on post and just communicate a lot better.”
Defensively, the Eagles were dominant, disrupting the Mustangs passing lanes and keep play to the edges of the field safe and far away for almost the entire game. Conversely, Monticello’s defense came up big during regulation, thanks in large part to Mattie Morris who also happen to create the Mustangs biggest scoring chance in the first inside of two minutes before halftime.
While Brown had the odd chance on a few short corners, it was Sadie Bryant who carried the Eagles offense for much of the night. The freshman had the first big opportunity midway through the first half, but couldn’t tuck it in.
“She’s an athlete, one of those girls, you put her in the game, give her a stick or soccer ball and she wants it,” Lavie said. “She wants to carry the ball, she wants to score and she’s hustling the whole time.”
Minutes later, it was the same for Brown. The Eagles thought they had a 1-0 lead at 4:43 in the first but Brown’s goal was disallowed.
Little was accomplished offensively in the second half with both team’s playing tight defense but once again Bryant drew a rise from the crowd with her play in front to start the period just over a minute in.
In overtime, before Brown scored the game winner, it appeared that Monticello goalie Gina Wiegold was going to be the hero after making a pair of impressive saves on an aggressive Eagles breakout five minutes in and then again just before the game ending short corner.
“(Weigold) has been tremendous for us this year,” said Monticello coach Katie Owens. “She’s a leader. When we get in the huddles I let her speak first and really agknowledge the things she sees because she sees everything… she communicates like Brittany Haun did last year.”
Covenant (6-5) hosts North Cross today at 4:30 p.m.
Monticello (3-5) hosts Louisa County on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
