Late goal lifts Black Knights

By Liz Keller

Published: April 14, 2008

After not playing in a Jefferson District game for nearly two weeks, the Charlottesville and Western Albemarle girls soccer teams put on quite a show Monday night.
The two teams battled to a scoreless tie until just under the 10-minute mark, when Charlottesville freshman Sarah Robinson found the back of the middle of the net from about 25 yards out to give the Black Knights a 1-0 lead they would not relinquish.
With the win, Charlottesville (7-0-1, 5-0 Jefferson District) kept its perfect district record intact.
“It was a good win,” said senior co-captain Emily Perrin. “It was tough coming off of spring break. Our team hadn’t played a game [since April 3].
“Western’s a huge rivalry, so it’s always really important that we win this game. It always helps to play them at home the first time around.”
Charlottesville dominated possession in the first half and had many opportunities to score, but was unable to connect.
The Warriors (2-2, 1-1) also had their chances, but strong defense around the net from Ellen Buckley and Zoe Ackerman helped to thwart the Western attack.
In addition, diving goalkeeper Clay Eure stopped one of the Warriors’ best shots on goal of the first half with 12:04 remaining before halftime.
The teams continued their evenly-matched play into the second half. Both finished with 18 shots on goal.
“They came out strong and put up a good fight,” Perrin said. “Ultimately it just came down to scrapping for the ball at the end, and we finally put one in the goal.”
After stopping Western on back-to-back corner kicks, Charlottesville took the ball down field, where Robinson delivered a perfect shot into the net, and the celebration ensued.
Despite the loss, Western Albemarle coach Kevin Murphy said he couldn’t have asked for a better game.
“I was completely pleased with the effort,” Murphy said. “It was tough, it was a battle, and the game could have gone either way. It was a lot of great soccer. Unfortunately, one of theirs went in and ours didn’t.”
Western Albemarle plays host to Orange County on Thursday, while Charlottesville returns to action today against William Monroe at home.