Western Albemarle’s girls soccer team has found its groove of late are and everything seems to be clicking for the Warriors. Western continued riding that wave Monday night as the Warriors cruised past Staunton River 6-0 in the Region 3A West quarterfinals.
“We’re peaking, we’re starting to connect a lot of our passes and getting everything under control,” said Western’s Shannon Moore. “Everything is starting to work out.”
They need it to click too, because they’re facing playoff arch nemesis Blacksburg Wednesday in the region semifinals. The Warriors fell twice to the Bruins last year, losing once in the region finals and in the state final.
Monday essentially served as a tune-up for the battle with Blacksburg as Western piled on four goals in the first half as part of a fast start that was a major focus of the Warriors’ game plan and included consideration of the weather forecast.
“It was really awesome that we were able to score early,” Moore said. “That was one of our biggest things coming in because we heard a storm was coming and (the game) can get stopped early. We were trying to score early and get on them quick.”
With that cushion in place, Western stayed aggressive and scored twice more after the break. The Warriors appear to be locked in right now, driven by a singular goal to win a state title, a goal that even their newest players have made their mission.
“Last year, I wasn’t here, but we were very close,” said freshman Julia Berg. “Everybody was really just driven towards it.”
The first goal came for Western came on an own goal by Staunton River. The other five were all scored by different players. Caitlin Harvey, Berg, Moore, Abby Zimmerman and Elizabeth Fabiano all scored, giving the Warriors more than enough offense to knock off the Golden Eagles.
Western will take on the Bruins in Lynchburg in the Region 3A West semifinals with a state tournament berth on the line. The two teams scrimmaged earlier in the season, and last year’s two matchups were extremely tight with a 2-0 Blacksburg win in the region final and a 1-0 Blacksburg win in the Group 3A state final.
