WINCHESTER — You can take the All-Region defender out of the back line, but you can’t take the defensive mentality out of the team leader in goals and assists.
Senior Avery Wright continued her stellar offensive season in her first season at forward for James Wood with two goals and an assist on Thursday night at home against Clarke County. She’s enjoying her attacking role, but it certainly means just as much to add to the Colonels’ streak of shutouts.
“Huge shoutout. I think we’re a team full of defenders,” Wright said. “It’s really fun to see everyone work hard and back each other up, and just always be there for each other, especially on defense.”
James Wood won its fifth straight game — all by shutout — with Thursday’s 3-0 win over the Eagles. The Colonels (8-3-1) have lost every time they’ve conceded a goal but they’e posted nine shutouts overall. One of them was a 3-0 win at Clarke County (7-5) on March 19.
On Tuesday, James Wood goalkeeper Alaynah McGuire needed to make only two saves for the Colonels, who took 21 shots on the other end. One ball bounced to her off a deflection. Her toughest challenge was a free kick halfway through the first half that bounced high in the box and forced her to reach high to grab it before it went in.
Kierny Prunty would score less than two minutes later from close range on a cross from the left side from Wright in the 22nd minute, and that would be all James Wood’s defense needed.
“I really think we’ve pulled together,” James Wood head coach Donavan Russell said. “I think they’re determined to make sure that we work with our communication. Tonight was a great example. We’re telling people what we’re thinking, what we’re seeing, and everybody’s executing that.”
Russell said the midfield and the starting back line — which features three players but is essentially a four-defender system with Meadow Falkner and Aubrie Darnall switching center back and defensive midfielder roles — is doing a good job of setting the tone. Reese Lessard and Karlie Orndorff are the outside backs, though Orndorff’s minutes were limited by illness on Thursday. Midfielder DeLaney Newcome has shifted to an outside back role the past couple of games.
“We’re a strong defensive team in the midfield, which really helps us apply pressure and get the ball rolling up top,” Russell said. “The back [line] has just been so solid for us. Communication, chemistry with that group … they’ve really given us a lot of confidence to keep our midfielders a little bit higher, because they’re going to take care of things and transition into the attack.”
Russell said it’s great that the Colonels have so many versatile players. Prunty is typically a center or right midfielder, but played up top on Thursday.
“We just need some of those seniors to make things happen,” Russell said.
The senior assisted Wright’s first goal in the 26th minute. That shot had a fortuitous deflection for the Colonels, as Clarke County’s outstanding goalkeeper Brianna Mayo (10 saves Thursday) was moving in the direction of the shot to her right but instead watched the ball go off an Eagles defender and bounce past her to her left to put the Colonels up 2-0.
Prunty had one goal and two assists in two games this week after entering the week with one goal and no assists this season.
“[Forward] is a new position for me,” Prunty said. “I feel like it was pretty fun to try out something different. I really liked the way [Wright and I] connected. I want to continue that.”
Wright has 11 goals and seven assists this year to lead the Colonels in both categories. Her second goal came on a direct kick in the 61st minute. From about 25 yards out on the right side, she blasted a shot that Mayo got her hands on, but the rebound went off the bottom of the crossbar and crossed the goal line on its descent.
“I think once I settled in and got connected with my teammates, it’s been really fun to just work together, talk, and just build each other up to score goals,” said Wright of playing forward this season.
Before its winning streak, James Wood had a rough stretch where it went 0-3-1 and was shut out four times themselves, with a 4-0 loss to Kettle Run in the last of those contests. Russell hopes James Wood can continue to play the way it has.
“We were struggling a little bit with our confidence,” said Russell of the winless streak. “Just finishing, passing. Everything was a llttle bit rough. Kudos to the girls. They’ve really pushed themselves to focus in trainings — good passing, great communication, first touch — all those things they were really kind of shaky with early, they’ve just been determined to fix it, and they’ve been doing it.”
Clarke County dropped to 0-5 against Winchester/Frederick County schools, but the Eagles are 7-0 against Bull Run teams. Clarke County had a three-game winning streak in which it outscored opponents 11-1 snapped on Thursday.
Despite what the scoreboard read in those games, Eagles coach Ray Hawkins said it was a difficult stretch because of injuries. One player suffered a sprained ankle and two others received concussions, forcing Hawkins to pull players up from the JV team.
“They’re stepping into roles they’re not usually playing, and they’re doing a pretty good job,” Hawkins said. “I’m happy with the depth that we have. [Tonight] I thought we did great in the second half.”
Hawkins hopes to get healthy soon so Clarke County can finish strong. The Eagles are only rated fourth in the 14-team Region 2B/1B ratings released Monday because they haven’t beaten any of their Class 4 opponents, while other teams in Region 2B/1B are beating higher classification schools that aren’t as strong as the ones in Winchester/Frederick County. (Class 2 and 1 are combined for the first time since 2018 this year for girls’ soccer.) However, the Eagles will move to No. 1 if they win the Bull Run.
“We’ve got to win the district, because the new region system is a disadvantage for us,” Hawkins said. “There’s a lot of teams that play a mixed schedule with some 3A and 4A teams. We’re not getting some of the bonus points other teams are.”
On Tuesday, Clarke County will host Luray and James Wood will host Warren County.
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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