The scoring happened fast in Albemarle’s battle with Mountain View as the Patriots grabbed a one-goal lead with 22 minutes left in the first half on sophomore Maggie Tubridy’s goal. But from there, Albemarle’s stingy defense had to hold tight to that one goal advantage.
The Patriots survived.
Albemarle fought through a cold second half to pick up a 2-1 lead and, in turn, a 3-0 start to Commonwealth District play going into spring break.
“They came out a little nervous and edgy, but I thought we settled in,” said Albemarle coach Jon Hall.
Tubridy’s goal gave Albemarle the 2-1 lead, but a short burst of scoring before that provided a lot of excitement, with Taylor Hale striking first for Albemarle in the first five minutes of the game before Mountain View struck on an equalizer just three minutes later.
Hale, one of Albemarle’s center midfielders, kept the pressure on the Wildcats’ defense the entire second half with deep drives into the Mountain View zone. Those attacks helped create scoring chances, chew up clock and gave the Albemarle defense a chance to reset between the Wildcats own possessions.
“It’s so nice to be able to count on her and have her in there,” said Albemarle captain Joy Piirto. “When you pass it to her you know she’s going to do good things.”
Hale has been making a big impact player at center mid, moving up from defense where she’s played for the Patriots the past couple of seasons. The Patriots’ depth allowed Hall to move Hale forward and it’s created a more potent, dangerous offense for Albemarle.
“Defensive mids do all this work and never get any glory,” Hall said. “But this year, with the team we have, I said, ‘This year, you’ve got the keys to a Ferrari, drive it like you stole it.’ And she’s taken that to heart.”
Piirto, a senior, is Albemarle’s defensive cornerstone, working with a pair of talented freshmen backs, Anne Brady and Abby Davison, to bring them up to speed. The program’s younger players were even more critical Friday night against Mountain View as a couple of injuries to key players left the Patriots without many options off the bench. That makes the 72 minutes of scoreless soccer after Mountain View’s lone goal that much more impressive.
Piirto and Betsy Haugh helped Albemarle stay focused throughout that stretch, and only once did the Patriots looked at all scattered. Haugh came up with a save during that short spell of disorganization and Albemarle snapped back into form quickly.
“Mountain View is a very good squad so for us to come out of here with the win tonight says a lot about the kids,” Hall said. “And being 3-0 in the district is kind of nice.”
Albemarle takes next week off for Spring Break, but returns to the field April 13 at home against Colonial Forge where they’ll try to move to 4-0 in district play.
