Albemarle’s reaction after its victory over Hickory might have been alarming to the Falls Church team taking the bench for their game afterwards. The Patriots, having doled out a firm 4-0 beating of Hickory in the Group 5A semifinals, gathered their things and vacated the bench as though nothing had happened in the previous two hours. A couple of hand shakes, some nods of affirmation, on to the next game.
“In fact in the regional final it was the same thing, they got a trophy and it was the same thing, ‘Eh, no big deal,’” said Patriots coach Jeff Balnave. “It’s great to see they played a complete game. The whole roster contributed today. It’s a quick turnaround to tomorrow against a good team.”
From the word go, it was Albemarle’s game. The Patriots had a pair of free kicks deep in Hickory territory in the first minute and then minutes later, Eliya Budugure drew a penalty kick. Albemarle sent out Griffin Coffey to take it and the senior buried a no-doubter. The goal visibly took the wind out of the Hawks’ sails.
“We came out really fast and Eliya got us the PK and that very first goal was a real energy booster,” Coffey said. “We knew when we got the subs on we knew we were in control of the game.”
While Albemarle continued to apply pressure, it was when Brendan Moyers came off the bench with 20 minutes left in the first that the Patriots offense started clicking on another level, as if the start wasn’t good enough. Five minutes later, Moyers struck off a feed from Jordan Parks and it was 2-0.
And it just kept coming for Albemarle as Budgugure was a menace on offense while Hickory was saddled with yellow cards and struggled to find an answer to the Patriots passing between the midfield and the attack.
“He had pace that gave them a little trouble in the back,” said Balnave of Budugure. “He’s real scrappy and doesn’t give up on anything. I think that set the tone.”
Albemarle earned a corner with seven minutes remaining in the first and Moyers sent it to Coffey who finished the job to make it 3-0 going into the half.
“After the second goal we knew the game was over if we kept playing like that,” Coffey said. “It was very weird. It was good because we were able to rest some players to be ready for tomorrow, but it’s exciting leading into the state championship.”
The only thing that changed in the second half was the tone. Things got chippy, and after Brandon Mahon was roughed up after his goal to start the half and put thigns at 4-0, the yellow cards really started flying in Hickory’s direction. The Hawks finished with six yellows and a red on the evening, but cooler heads prevailed with 20 minutes to go as the Patriots worked in their substitutions and focused on possession and the clock.
On the defensive end of things, it was quiet. Goalkeeper Jake Gelvnovatch made one big save midway through the second, but was fortunate to have a quiet day.
The Patriots will face that very Falls Church team they beat in the Region 5A championship last week. That Jaguars team had a wild affair against Mills Godwin in a 5-1 where the police had to get involved after a melee at the end of the second half. That semifinal was called with three minutes and change on the clock.
The win puts Albemarle in the 5A championship for the second time in three season. The game will be at 9:30 a.m. at Robinson High.
