Warriors sneak draw with Flucos

By Ryan Yemen Daily Progress correspondent
Published: May 1, 2008

Every minute of a soccer game matters, but none quite so much as the last two.
In a match between two evenly-balanced girls soccer teams, Western Albemarle and Fluvanna County played each other to a 1-1 tie.
“We’re disappointed, because we thought we could come here and win,” said Flying Flucos coach Tara Garcia, whose team led until the last minutes of the second half. “It’s a tie and not a loss, so it’s not that bad. But still.”
Fluvanna (9-2-1, 7-2-1 Jefferson District) out-hustled the Warriors in the first half and went into halftime up by one goal.
The Warriors’ effort picked up in the second half as they applied constant offensive pressure to no avail.
It wasn’t for a lack of opportunity that Western (8-4-1, 7-1-1) couldn’t put one past Fluvanna.
“If we shot fifteen percent in this game, we’d have been up 3-1,” said Western coach Kevin Murphy.
The Warriors outshot the Flucos in both the first and second halves but could not find the back of the net.
“When you’re playing against Fluvanna or Charlottesville, it’s about who wants it more,” Murphy said.
For most of the game, the Fluvanna defense found a way to make a play, block a shot and hold on, and midfielder Tyler Drake was a major reason why.
“She was the anchor of our defense tonight,” Garcia said. “She plays her position really, really well. It was kind of frustrating because I think a lot of people were just watching her do all the work.”
It wasn’t until the final moments of the second half that Western was able to score.
With time winding down, Cory Murphy finally put the Warriors on the board, sending the game into extra time.
“I heard the ref say less than two minutes,” Murphy said. “Stephanie Adams got me the ball and I was able to just tap it in with my left foot. I was just so happy.”
In overtime, it was Fluvanna’s turn to be frustrated. The Flucos saw Drake’s breakaway fall apart in the first overtime and squandered a pair of corner kicks in the second overtime.
Fluvanna tacked on its goal 10 minutes into the first half, when Megan Seelye perfectly bent a corner kick into the net.
“I wasn’t expecting it, but I’ll take what I can get,” Seelye said. “I think we got lucky. I’m happy with a tie, it’s a whole lot better loss.”
Drake had an opportunity to be the hero of the game on a breakaway in the first overtime, but lost control of the ball thanks to some pressure from the Western defenders.
“It’s going to be a close race between us, Charlottesville and Western,” Garcia said of the chase for the district regular-season title.
Fluvanna hosts William Monroe on Tuesday at 5 p.m.
Western hosts Monticello on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.