The Patriots might not have converted on as many opportunities as coach Amy Sherill would have liked, but given the way her team controlled the time of possession battle, Albemarle didn’t a whole lot of scoring. Monticello’s defense played strong, particularly in the second half. However a pair of goals off of sets plays in the first half was more than enough for the Patriots to beat the Mustangs 3-0.
“This is something we really practiced last week — those that were in town at least — maintaining possession and movement off the ball,” Sherill said. “That was huge for us tonight. We’d like to capitalize on more chances, but we are coming off the break, so that’s okay for right now.”
Albemarle got on the board in the fourth minute of play when Makinna Winterton (pictured above) connected on a shot off a pass from Leticia Freitas to quickly give the home team a 1-0 edge.
“It was really nice to get the lead, especially since we knew that Monticello’s a good team,” Winterton said. “We worked a lot on switching the field.”
The Patriots continue to pour on the shots, but had trouble getting through the interior of the Mustangs defense. But when Albemarle drew a corner with just over 15 minutes left in the first half. Emma Hartman took the kick and Anne Ridenhour found the cross bar before Madison Kersey was able to finish the rebound and give the Patriots a comfortable 2-0 lead.
“That was just a right place, right time kind of thing where you just had to get anything on it and it was going in,” Kersey said of the clean up job. “(From there) it was mostly about game management, making sure we stay together, go forward and posses.”
While Monticello had trouble getting its offense rolling until later in the second half, defensively the Mustangs settled in to close out the first and the majority of the second. While Albemarle was able to keep the ball at midfield and on the edges of the field, the Mustangs, led by Hannah Keith spoiled a more than a handful of breakaway attempts and kept the shot totals low.
“It’s the first game back from spring break and Albemarle’s one of the best teams in the area that you can face,” said Monticello coach Thomas Warren. “Overall I thought the defense played well and there were a lot of positives to take away from this game. We moved some players to do some more man-marking than playing zone and that helped to shut down their center-mids a bit because they were controlling the game before that. Our mantra was ‘turn them back’ and I thought we did a better job of that in the second.”
For Albemarle, it was about trying to keep away from the Mustangs’ William and Mary-bound captain, which proved to be quite tough.
“Hannah played out of her mind and we tried to get her out of position but that just didn’t seem to happen so you have to credit her there,” Sherill said.
With 20 minutes to go the Mustangs were able to get their first corner kick and over the next 15 minutes they managed a pair of shots, including its lone shot on goal, but one that Albemarle keeper Aiyanah Tyler-Cooper was able to come up with. The Patriots responded with the final goal of the game, a breakaway up the middle from Hannah Eiden which she was able to finish with a low shot to the right side.
The loss is Monticello’s first of the year. The Mustangs (4-1-1, 2-1) will look to bounce back with a home game against Fluvanna County on Thursday at 7 p.m.
Albemarle (4-0-1, 3-0) has posted four straight shutouts and will host Powhatan also on Thursday at 7 p.m.
