Last season, Western Albemarle field hockey’s defenders collectively went by the nickname the Breakfast Club because all their calls were breakfast foods.
This year, their new nickname is simpler and more direct.
Monday night, it was also deadly accurate.
The Warriors’ self-styled Big D anchored Western in a 3-0 victory over Orange County that clinched the regular season Jefferson District title for the Warriors. Western’s defense allowed just one shot by the Hornets to test goalie Maya Langman all night, and Langman came up with the save on that play during the shutout.
“They’re such a strong offensive team—they have so many good offensive threats,” said Western senior defender Stewart Summers. “It’s really awesome to get the shutout.”
Other than the single shot on goal, the Warriors’ backline held Orange at bay, pushing out and shutting off passing lanes throughout the match. Western’s midfielders were a constant presence in the defensive zone too, with players like Olivia Hajek coming up with several big stops.
“Olivia is insane,” said Western senior Emma Weiss. “She gets it and goes but we have everybody giving the same effort, everybody is trying.”
Weiss and Summers give the Warriors a staunch foundation on defense that rarely makes mistakes, and the Hornets couldn’t seem to find any openings all night. Western’s offense, on the other hand, got the scoring started with under 14 minutes to play in the first half when Hajek burst through for a goal and then powered in two other goals after the break by Krista Brown and Tess Lohr. Lohr’s tally gave the Warriors a 2-0 lead, and she owed the opportunity partially to coach Mia Fields’ reading habits.
“I read the article about the Monticello/Orange game and so I said to Tess before the game that Monticello scored from the inserter on a corner—the ball came back to the inserter and the inserter scored,” Fields said. “So I said be ready over here. And Orange has a great goalie (Sarah Edmondson) and she’s very quick so I knew she’d get to the first shot.”
Lohr took advantage on the rebound though, blasting home a shot to push Western’s advantage to two goals in a game that was rescheduled from two weeks ago after a rainout.
Orange County came out flat and struggled to create offensive chances. The Hornets were sluggish defensively too, surrendering three goals despite giving up just one short corner. Orange has been through stretches like this before, often swooning late in the regular season after a fast start. Last season, Orange had a similar lull before bouncing back in the playoffs.
“We’ve got to fix a lot of things that are going on,” said Hornets coach Trish Grabeel. “We usually have a fast start and then tend to get a little stagnant until the playoffs. I’m kinda hoping we can turn it around next week when the district tournament starts.”
Both teams will be major factors in next week’s Jefferson District tournament, scheduled to be held out at Orange County.
