BOYS SOCCER: Charlottesville, Monticello boys play to draw

By Roger Gonzalez
Published: March 26, 2008

Early deficits in soccer games often lead to a team losing its composure and, eventually, the match. On Wednesday night, Monticello kept its composure to salvage a draw.
The Mustangs (0-1-1, 0-0-1 Jefferson District) trailed Charlottesville by three goals fifteen minutes in, but managed to storm back to come away with a 3-3 tie.
Monticello’s Matt Wolanski scored two goals, including the tying goal ten minutes from time, to earn the Mustangs a draw.
Monticello coach Justin Bell was thrilled with how his team managed to fight back.
“We’ve talked about keeping a cool head no matter what the score is,” Bell said. “We decided we wanted to pull together as a team and show some heart.”
CHS forward Chris Kaisoum opened the scoring five minutes in. The senior received a high through ball from Abdi Mohamed and manged to first touch it by the keeper from 12 yards out and then knock it home from close range.
The Black Knights (1-2-3, 0-1-2) added another goal a minute later. Adib Altallal scored the first of his two goals by sliding home a shot under MHS goalie Gyasi Carr-Holland.
Altallal’s second goal came on a defensive mistake by the Mustangs. A mixup in communication by Carr-Holland and defender Graham Busse allowed Altallal to slip between both players and tap the ball in from six yards.
The 3-0 deficit seemed insurmountable, but the Mustangs were relentless in pushing the ball upfield with the hope of creating offensive opportunities.
Junior Nathaniel Lapierre scored on a header from the back post to put the Mustangs on the board ten minutes into the second half.
Five minutes later, Lapierre controlled the ball in the box and cut the ball back to Wolanski, who fired home a ferocious shot from 12 yards.
It appeared as if Monticello’s comeback would fall short as time ticked away, but thanks to a brilliant pass from senior Anthony Matos, Monticello completed its comeback.
Matos flicked a clever little pass with the outside of his foot to a wide-open Wolanski, who slotted the ball into the lower opposite corner to tie the game at three. Matos acknowledged that Lapierre’s goal got things rolling.
“We had a game yesterday so we were tired at the beginning,” Matos said. “We picked the intensity up after we got the first goal and things just started clicking.”
In the second half, it looked as if CHS took a 4-3 lead. Carr-Holland caught a shot from midfield and then stepped backwards while making the save. The ball appeared to be very close to entering the goal, but the linesman was not in position to make the call.
During overtime, both teams managed a chance on goal but neither managed to go one up.
Carr-Holland made a terrific save by extending his leg on a low shot to preserve the tie.
In a physical game, Charlottesville coach Kevin Madigan was disappointed in his team’s performance after going up 3-0.
“We just faded in the end,” he said. “They seemed to want it more than we did. They played without fear and we played with a lot of fear.”
After the game, it was evident that the Charlottesville players were not happy with the result but Madigan saw one bright spot during the match.
Somalian midfielder Abdi Mohamed battled through injury and went in for every tackle. Madigan spoke to his team and praised the work of his versatile midfielder.
“He is a wonderful person,” Madigan said. “He works hard and he is a good player. Tonight he was the only one who played without any fear. Guys were pulling out of tackles or shying away from headers but he didn’t do that.”
Charlottesville is in an unfamiliar situation — a winless record three games into district play is not something Madigan is used to. The Black Knights will look to turn things around against William Monroe on Monday.
Monticello travels to Orange County that day in search of its first victory of the season.