Colonel Girls’ Soccer Shuts Out Judges, 4-0

Posted: April 26, 2013
By KEVIN TRUDGEON

WINCHESTER — It’d been almost a month since Emily Denton lit up the scoreboard in a win over Warren County back on March 28.

On that night the James Wood freshman was almost unstoppable, setting the girls’ soccer program’s single-game scoring record only five games into her high school career.

Thursday night she offered up an encore.

Hosting Handley in a key Northwestern District game, Denton again shouldered the scoring load for the Colonels, pouring in four to pace a 4-0 win over the Judges at Kelican Stadium.

“The entire team was just kind of pumped up for this game, me included,” said Denton, who scored twice in each half to raise her season total to 14 goals, just three off the single-season record.

“We all wanted this win to prove to Sherando that we’re here to win. I think [the win] was everything for this season, it sets up everything. After this the ball is rolling in our favor.”

It certainly was Thursday for James Wood (4-6-1, 2-1-1 Northwestern).

Coming off an 8-0 thrashing of Skyline, the Colonels were looking for their first two-game winning streak of the season and got it with an impressive showing from start to finish.

It only took nine minutes for Denton to make her presence felt, holding off a Handley defender on a run into the box before poking a shot past charging Judges’ goalkeeper Ellie Volinsky to make it 1-0.

Handley (3-7, 2-2) looked to have the equalizer a minute later when forward Krystal Rosario got behind the Colonel defense, but goalkeeper Emily Woods-Hulse made a sliding save coming off her line and the ensuing corner kick was headed off the right post and cleared.

The missed chances would prove costly as Denton struck again in the 24th minute.

Fellow freshman Adrienne Thomas played a perfect ball over the top of the Handley defense and Denton simply outran her defender. Her initial shot was turned away by Volinsky, but Denton quickly followed up the rebound and deposited it in the back of the net.

“The great thing about Emily is she’s so humble,” said James Wood coach Jim Carden. “She has I think 10 assists and if it’s there she takes it and if it’s not she doesn’t. Tonight she was just too much for them, they had three people on her at times but she used her quickness.”

The Judges would have one more great scoring chance late in the first half off another corner kick, but Woods-Hulse made a diving save off senior Courtney Pryde’s one-timer to preserve the Colonels’ two-goal lead heading into halftime.

Another Denton goal five minutes into the second half, this time on a header off a cross from sophomore Alex Stanford, pushed the lead to 3-0 and seven minutes later the freshman phenom capped the scoring, chasing down yet another long pass from Thomas and beating Volinsky right for her fourth goal of the game.

Handley would actually outshoot James Wood 13-12 in the game, but it was the play of Denton that was the difference.

“The situation is we know that she’s a target player,” Handley coach John Lynch said. “She’s going to be fast, she’s going to be physical, she’s got a good touch on it and unfortunately we just didn’t adjust to it.

“I thought tonight we were lacking a little bit in the communication and lacking a little bit in just making minor adjustments on proper marking and proper spacing. It allowed some opportunities for them to hit that target player a little bit more than we would have preferred.”

Lynch and the Judges had hoped to build on a big overtime win over Sherando on Tuesday, but the Colonel defense tightened up in the second half.

“As a defense we knew we just needed to mark up their players and stay tight, make sure they weren’t getting into open space,” Thomas said. “It’s nice having [Denton], she’s amazing. She’s always there to help us and she did tonight.”

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