Handley Girls Soccer Avoids Play-In Game With 4-1 Win Over James Wood

Posted: May 14, 2013
By MARK SAWYER
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Regardless of the situation, the sport, the records, or the standings, there is no such thing as a meaningless game between James Wood and Handley.

Their girls’ soccer match Monday in the regular season finale for both teams took on far more meaning, however, as the two teams battled for position in the final standings and seeding for the upcoming Northwestern District Tournament.

Throw in that it was senior night for six Judges playing their final game at the Handley Bowl and the stakes were plenty high.

For Wood, a win would lock up a second-place finish and give them a date with Sherando on Saturday in the semifinals and a chance to earn a bid into the Region II playoffs.

Unfortunately for the Colonels, Handley had other plans. The Judges scored two goals in each half, jumping out to a 4-0 lead and then holding on for a 4-1 victory that lifted them into second place (for now) and dropped the Colonels all the way to fourth and a likely spot in Thursday night’s play-in game against Skyline.

On a night when Handley honored seniors Courtney Pryde, Alison Snow, Anna Robinson, Leigh Sheppard, Mary Deskins and Holly Ogilvie before the game, it was several of the younger Judges that nearly stole the show.

Sophomore keeper Ellie Volinsky nearly pitched a shutout, classmate Ellie Selzer notched her first goal of the season and freshman Olivia DeArment tallied her first career goal.

Not to be outdone by her younger teammates, Ogilvie sandwiched a pair of goals in between DeArment’s and Selzer’s to lead the Judges to the win.

“Tonight they came out strong,” said Handley coach John Lynch. “Not just because it was senior night, they definitely wanted to play for the seniors, but they just wanted to win. They’ve been working so hard and been dropping a couple close ones.

“It was all about good passes, capitalizing on a lot of good possessions, smart choices. We had a lot of opportunities and had a couple new girls score goals. Everyone played tonight and everyone contributed in a very significant way.”

Through the first 20 minutes the game was back and forth, with neither team gaining much of an advantage, but that changed at the 18:21 mark when DeArment gathered a loose ball in front of the Colonels’ (5-9-2, 3-3-2 Northwestern) net, made a nice move and fired home her first career goal to put the Judges (5-9, 4-4) on top 1-0.

“We knew we had to get good passes, work together, that’s something we always want to do,” DeArment said. “Once we got the first goal it just got in our mind that we can do this and then we just started stringing them together. We came out here and knew if we worked together and had heart we could beat this team.”

The score remained that way until nearly halftime, but the Colonels made a critical mistake with under a minute left in the half when they were whistled for a hand ball in the penalty box, leaving the Judges with a direct free kick.

Ogilvie did the honors and didn’t let her teammates down. She sized up the situation and then unloaded a shot into the lower corner on the near side to give Handley a 2-0 lead at the break.

It took just over three minutes of play in the second half for the Judges to extend their lead and begin to take away the hopes of a Colonel comeback.

Sophomore Emily Snow lined up for a corner kick and though the initial header was saved, the Colonels were unable to secure or clear the ball and Ogilvie was in the right place at the right time to get the rebound and put home her second goal of the night.

“We really wanted to win tonight to give us a better placement in the tournament,” Ogilvie said. “We came out hard and did everything we had to do. We definitely came out a lot harder, we knew they were going to be a tough opponent.

“It’s nice to get [two goals] on senior night. It’s nice to get them any night, but tonight it felt a lot better. We want to get to the finals of the tournament so we can make it to regionals.”

Just over 11 minutes later, Selzer picked up her first goal of the season off a fast break and a couple spin moves that left her open in front of the Colonels’ net. She sent her shot across the net, just past the outstretched arms of a diving keeper, and hit the far corner for a 4-0 lead.

“We’re all very excited,” Selzer said. “We came out on senior night and wanted to win. We had a positive attitude as a team and we just worked together. It was a team effort definitely.”

With much of the game played in their end of the field, the Colonels’ scoring opportunities were few. But they were able to avoid the shutout when junior Marissa Maddalena gathered the ball near the Handley sideline and carried it towards the Judges’ goal and fired a shot from the near side that found the back corner of the net on the far side, making for the final tally of the contest with 21:01 left to play.

“Give Handley all the credit, they were a much better team then we were today, it’s that simple,” said James Wood coach Jim Carden. “They beat us in every phase of the game and quite honestly the coach has to take responsibility for that and I do. We weren’t ready to play.

“Now we [likely] have to play on Thursday, which I hate, but we will be ready. We’re still OK, we can do this, we just have to do it a little harder. Millbrook’s a great team, but any team can beat anybody. My hat’s off to coach Lynch and the Handley players, they certainly deserved to win.”

The winner of Thursday night’s play-in game between will meet top-seeded Millbrook in one of the semifinals on Saturday. Both semifinals will be played at Millbrook.