Western Albemarle field hockey’s Joie Funk does a lot of the dirty work for the Warriors at center forward, helping control possession and defend immediately when the opposition gets going the other way.
Thursday though, she did her damage offensively, scoring the Warriors’ gamewinner with just 5:45 left to play in a 2-1 victory over Monticello.
“She is one of our best defenders,” said Western coach Milo Oakland. “Which is why she plays center forward. It may seem counter-intuitive but she’s able to create so much up there. It’s nice to see her score goals though because she deserves them for the effort she puts forth all game.”
The Warriors needed a lot of that effort as Monticello’s defense made things particularly tough on Western, allowing just a single goal by Kira Repich in the first half, with 14:45 to play before the break. Western had to stay focused and try and solve the Mustangs’ back line that stepped up in a big way.
“I think by the end of the season we’re going to be glad we were in games like this where we can figure out how to battle through really defensive-minded teams that are really organized defensively and can create frustration for what we’re trying to do,” Oakland said.
That strong defensive effort created opportunity for the Mustangs and Sarah Alberts capitalized when she came up with an equalizer with 12:29 to play, putting the game back in a deadlock.
“She was actually a recent switch up to offense for us and that’s probably one of the better decisions I’ve made,” said Monticello coach Katie Martin. “She’s really good at having her stick down low, she’s ready for it and able to place it with power whenever she needs to.”
Funk cut the possibility of a Monticello tie or win short though with the late strike. Still, the Mustangs continued to show progress.
“We’ve been working on finding that fire and digging super deep and today I think we had it, I’m not disappointed in how we played at all,” Martin said.
Western faces a three-game slate next week while the Mustangs travel across town to battle Charlottesville Tuesday.
