In the Jefferson District final Thursday night, Western Albemarle and Fluvanna battled the way any top two seeds would in a championship match, providing a one-goal thriller with strong offensive and defensive performances. Top-seeded Western Albemarle pulled away with the 1-0 victory thanks to a Grant Tobler goal with 16:39 remaining in the game.
“Just a battle. It was hard fought,” said Fluvanna head coach Earl Gibson. “They are a very good team, and they’ve proved it all season long. I was glad that our guys showed up the way they did and played tough. It’s a heartbreaker to lose it by that one single goal.”
The intensity was there from the very beginning, with both teams creating dangerous opportunities in an attempt to get on the scoreboard first. Just seven minutes into the game, Tobler was taken down at the top of the box as the Flucos scrambled to clear the loose ball off the goal line. Later in the half, a Western free kick looked promising before the attempted header landed wide.
Minutes before the break, Fluvanna junior Dale Ludwig sent a driven free kick low into the box, which was cleared away by the Western defense. On the ensuing counterattack, a long ball played over the back line forced Fluvanna goalkeeper Jake Bachman off his line to clear the bouncing ball with his feet.
When the second half got under way, the opportunities remained plenty for both sides. Six minutes into the half, Western Albemarle thought they had finally broken through, only to have a Tobler goal called back on offsides. Four minutes later, the Warriors had another goal wiped from the scoreboard, this time due to a handball.
Finally however, the third time proved to be the charm, as Western Albemarle’s Harris Tolber played a ball across to his brother that found the back of the net.
“I just went up the middle. My brother went up the line. He just served it in, and it went under the defender’s foot. I trapped it, and it was kind of stuck under me. I took it past their defender and hit it bottom left, and it worked out,” Grant Tobler said.
The Tolber brothers proved to be a force to be reckoned with throughout the game.
“They offer a lot of dynamic play, whether it’s taking guys on the dribble or combinations with each other or combinations with their midfield, so it keeps opposing defenses on their toes,” said Western Albemarle head coach Paul Rittenhouse. “They can be a little unpredictable about what they’re doing, and so it makes us very dynamic in the attacking third.”
Tolber’s goal proved to be the game winner, as the Warriors held on to win 1-0 and clinch the Jefferson District title.
“It’s nice to be able to close things out. We had a good regular season, and you want to close out the tournament with a win so that you have a sense of momentum going into the region tournament,” Rittenhouse said. “Fluvanna played a great game. Even after we scored the goal, they pushed us to the brink and played us tough, and our guys kept their composure. It was nice that we didn’t abandon our game plan and stuck to what got us here, and ultimately that won it for us.”
Both teams advance to the Region II tournament. Fluvanna will face Brentsville in the first round, while Western Albemarle’s opponent will be determined after the completion of the opening round.
