Charlottesville started the game by keeping Western Albemarle at midfield for the first five minutes. They finished it with an aggressive onslaught in the last five minutes that saw a well hit ball knick the crossbar.
But the Warriors pushed ahead on a header in the first half from Forrest White, and after the Black Knights evened the game on a goal from Neil Fendley, Western raced back to reclaim the lead on a rebound shot from Landon Weis. From there, the Warriors held firm and managed to hold on for a 2-1 win on the road.
“Charlottesville really made it tough for us in the second half,” said Western coach Paul Rittenhouse. “We feel fortunate to get out of here with the win. I think sometimes there’s a familiarity between these teams and when you play the second time around it kind of makes it hard to find the weaknesses, where they’ll be. So you just try and chisel it out. It kind of results in a bit of a stalemate.”
The first half was fairly dry with both teams anchoring for position and trying to earn corner shots. But that changed in the 26th minute when Noah Oakland fed a cross to White who popped in a header that was perfectly placed over the defense and just fell into the net under the left corner.
“I was originally going to take it over for the volley, but it didn’t come down in time,” White said. “I decided I had to head it over because I saw the goalie come out a bit, so that’s what I did.”
Charlottesville regrouped in the second half. Abass Osman nearly replicated White’s goal off of a corner but Western keeper Brent Warnick was able to come up with the stop. Thirteen minutes into the second, the Black Knights punched on through to even up the score on a goal slid to the right corner of the net by Fendley off a feed from Shahir Abdul-Satar.
“It was an exciting game and for us, Western’s always a bit more because they’ve got a complete roster,” said Charlottesville coach Stephen Cost. “We came out to defend and then counter. It worked out where it leveled a bit in the second and we got some chances and then finally the goal.”
Western was patient with its attack all night, waiting for its moment with the Black Knights running a different defensive formation than in the first contest.
“They really packed it in this time,” White said. “Last time we beat them pretty soundly so they made the decision to put most of their guys in the box.”
Just three minutes after Fendley’s goal, Weis was able to put the Warriors back out in front. The senior was in the right place at the right time on a free kick from White – in front of the net after a shot – and he had little trouble following through to the back of the net.
“I think Harris Tolber got a head on it and the goalie couldn’t quite get a hand on it,” Weis said. “I was just there and was able to handle it, put it in.”
It was a conservative game after that until the last five minutes. The Black Knights came just two inches shy of equalizing the score on a shot from Satar 30-yards out that just glanced off the top of the cross bar. Western’s defense hung on to finish, and while the Warriors felt fortunate to keep their perfect Jefferson District record in tact, Charlottesville left feel as though it had still accomplished a good bit.
“I told the guys that we came in on a 2-game winning streak and this ended it, but that it was a really good performance, a fun game to watch with both teams really pushing as hard as they could,” Cost said. “To get into the playoffs we have to be able to play teams like Western, be able to work against them.”
Western heads to Louisa County on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
Charlottesville hosts Fluvanna County also on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
