WINCHESTER — After having shot a direct kick from 25 yards out wide in the 50th minute, Millbrook sophomore forward Garrett Johnson’s frustration was evident when he then proceeded to ground a shot to the left of the goal in the run of play in the 62nd minute.
In the 64th minute, he drilled the only shot that mattered on Friday night at James Wood’s Kelican Stadium.
On another direct kick from 25 yards out slightly right of the middle of the goal, Johnson placed a perfect shot about halfway up the right side of the net past diving James Wood goalkeeper Ben Tanger to set off a Pioneer celebration.
Millbrook’s stout and physical defense made the goal stand up for a huge 1-0 win in a battle of the two best teams from the Class 4 Northwestern District in 2021, and possibly the two best teams this year.
The Pioneers (3-2, 3-0 district) and Colonels (4-1-1, 2-1-1) were the only two teams still unbeaten in district play coming into Friday night.
For Millbrook, the win was particularly sweet. Three of the Pioneers’ fives losses last year came to James Wood, including a 2-0 defeat in the district championship game.
“It means a lot,” Millbrook senior captain and center back Pat Sigler said. “It feels great. It’s just going to propel us to compete for the district [title] this year and compete for regionals.
“I knew [Johnson] was going to get [a goal]. I believe in everybody on this team.”
The game was a physical, defensive slugfest in which it was difficult for both teams to generate a free-flowing attack. But Millbrook put more pressure on the James Wood defense with a 9-4 shot edge and 4-0 corner kick edge, and the Pioneers had more free kicks that were capable of being played into the penalty box or on goal than the Colonels.
In the 64th minute, the Pioneers finally took advantage of one. After a foul was called on James Wood following contact on a ball in the air, Johnson did a thorough evaluation of what was in front of him.
“I saw they had their wall set up blocking the right side of the post, and I saw their keeper sagging off to the left,” Johnson said. “I said I’m going to put it on the right side, because last time [in the 50th minute], I went to the left and it didn’t work out.
“That was my first time scoring on James Wood, so it was definitely a good moment for me.”
Millbrook first-year head coach Rhonda Cottino thought Johnson did a good job of putting pressure on James Wood’s defense to draw fouls, and felt an opportunity for success could come for him.
“My message to Garrett all game was keep your head in,” Cottino said.
The Pioneers defense then continued their impressive play to protect the lead. James Wood — which has yet to see its top returning offensive player in sophomore Tristan Obert suit up this year due to injury — didn’t threaten to score much in the run of play, relying mostly on throw-ins into the box and long free kicks. In the first half, Millbrook cleared everything away initially except Hunter Barnhart’s free kick from midfield that bounced once in the box and hit the left post in the final minute of the first half.
After Johnson scored, the only time that James Wood truly tested Millbrook goalkeeper Nick Catlett (two saves) came in the final few minutes. Micah Frigaard threw the ball in from the right corner, and the ball bounced toward Sam Frigaard, stationed about 10 yards from goal. Sam flicked a shot with his left foot, but it was right at Catlett.
Millbrook — whose back four features Sigler and sophomore Collin Zeller-Bender in the middle and juniors Logan Arthur and Tyler Mallen on the outside — has shut out all three of its district foes, including two in its last two games. Earlier this season, the Pioneers lost 4-2 to Harrisonburg. Millbrook also lost 3-1 to Tuscarora, though two of those goals came when the Pioneers were playing a man down for the final 20 minutes.
“Our defense is working to stay organized, kind of cleaning up some of the mistakes we made earlier on in the season,” Cottino said. “They’re proving themselves better and better each game.”
Cottino liked the effort from her team overall. She felt the fight her team showed made a big difference on Friday.
“We’ll take one game at a time,” Cottino said. “Every time we come out here against a local team, you know it can go either way. It doesn’t matter which team has more talent. It’s pretty much about heart and effort out here when it comes to a game against one of our local rivals. Whoever can leave the most heart on the field is the winner of the game.”
James Wood coach Brian Sullivan felt the Pioneers did outwork his team when it came to 50-50 balls.
“We have five sophomores and a freshman, and this is their first county game against a really good team,” Sullivan said. “We just talked about battling, and I think 50-50s were probably 80 [percent] to 20 [percent] in favor of them, and that was probably the difference in the game. Overall, they were just a little tougher than us.”
The Colonels are having an outstanding defensive season — they’ve allowed only two goals — but they’ve been shut out twice and needed a late goal to beat Kettle Run 1-0. Sullivan said the Colonels can definitely use Obert, who had eight goals (third on the team) and eight assists (fourth) last year. Sullivan said the forward could return this week.
“We struggled creating opportunities, and when we did get our set pieces they weren’t good enough to capitalize and create enough shots,” said Sullivan, who added that Millbrook’s defense is the best the Colonels have played this year. “These are the types of games we’re going to have to play this year, at least until Tristan comes back and can start opening things up. You need somebody to hold the ball up, the 9 [position], the forward, so we can get our numbers forward. Kettle Run, Fauquier, we dominated those games, frankly, but just couldn’t get the ball in the net.
“Tonight, I didn’t think we played terrible. They had more chances than us, but take away that one foul [and goal], I don’t see much difference in the game. I look forward to the return matchup against them. A lot of my young guys, getting those minutes, getting that varsity experience, every day they’re getting better and better at practice.”
Tanger had two saves for the Colonels, who will host Loudoun Valley on Monday. Millbrook will host Tuscarora in a rematch on Monday.
