There were these moments in past seasons where awfully talented editions of the Charlottesville’s boys soccer team tensed up. Where the moment was too big for them.
This year’s edition doesn’t have that problem. They certainly didn’t in a 1-0 victory over Harrisonburg Wednesday in the Region 4A West semifinals, a win that clinched a spot in the Group 4A state final four for the Black Knights. They’ll play Kettle Run Friday at 6 p.m. in the region title game.
“They have a swagger about them, they have a feeling and it has been there,” said Charlottesville coach Stephan Cost. “Sometimes we’ve gone into these big games and you can almost taste the anxiety and it’s not there, it’s channeled in a different way. They’re not worried.”
That’s about confidence and the Black Knights are playing with a healthy dose of it. Most importantly, that confidence doesn’t waver even when things get tight and tough like they did with Harrisonburg trying to pack it in and clamp down to neutralize the Black Knights’ speed at the top of the formation.
“We know we’re good enough to get to this step and we just never have, we’ve been closer every year,” said Charlottesville’s Alex Pfister. “I think it’s mostly confidence, we know we’re good enough this year and we’re playing like it. We’re not going to let any other team let us think we’re not good enough to reach our goal and that’s winning states.”
Pfister set the table for the Black Knights’ lone goal. Shortly after a couple of good chances including one where Amdane Sanda setup Abibi Osman with a slick pass back came up short late in the first half, Pfister gained possession near the top of the box. Evan Blow instinctively took off and Pfister quickly popped the ball up into the air and the arcing ball found Blow’s foot for the point blank finish.
“I just saw Even making a run and I just found him and he finished,” Pfister said.
The Black Knights kept attacking despite Harrisonburg’s attempt to bunker in on defense, continually probing for chance after chance.
“Offensively we just kept the pressure up,” said Charlottesville’s Yahya Mohamed. “We realized they were packing it in so we moved the ball quick off of our feet and Evan and Abibi will find each other. The crosses weren’t quite there but that’s something we’ve got to work on to get ready for states.”
With the defense rarely challenged in the shutout win, it was a dominant performance despite the one-goal differential. It also got the Black Knights over what has for too long been a stumbling block, leaving them a win or two away from the state tournament in past seasons including a loss last year in the region semifinals.
“It’s a great feeling actually, so we’re just going to try and enjoy it while it lasts,” Mohamed said.
It seems likely to last as long as the Black Knights decide to dictate the pace and style of each game. As long as they decide what the game is going to look like.
“They don’t step out on the field and see how things go, they want to step out on the field and show how things are going to go,” Cost said.
So far, they’re showing that they’re going to go the Black Knights’ way.
Charlottesville boys soccer's Alex Pfister talks about making the state final four in First Off the Field presented by @PT_acac pic.twitter.com/tiY5mREAsZ
— scrimmageplay (@scrimmageplay) June 1, 2017
