Girl's Soccer - Colonels Avenge Loss By Topping Patriots

Posted: May 6, 2016
By JOSH DORSEY
Special to The Winchester Star

WINCHESTER — Shenandoah Valley Christian Academy bounced James Wood 3-2 in girls’ soccer earlier this season.

The Colonels got their revenge by the same score Thursday.

Emily Denton netted two goals and Kate High scored another to help James Wood earn its redemption victory on a soggy field Thursday. Denton’s game-winner with about 13 minutes remaining gave the Colonels (7-5) the hard-fought win over the Patriots (12-6-2).

“Any time you lose to a team it stings a little and it sticks with you,” Denton said. “You have to be willing to fight harder the next time you go out there and use it to motivate you to do anything possible to win the next time.”

“I think we can play a lot better,” James Wood coach Jim Carden said. “I thought [SVCA] played a whale of a game. It took a number of moves and it took Emily to come through while she had two or three people on her most of the game, that’s crazy. We were fortunate. They are a very good team, we enjoy playing them. They let Emily finally get one-on-one and that’s not good for opposing teams.”

As the Patriots expected, James Wood did come out firing. The Colonels controlled the ball most of the first 10 minutes and created several scoring opportunities for High, who inched closer to putting a mark on the scoreboard in every passing minute. In the 10th minute, High found the mark, burying a shot past Patriots keeper Rebekah Max.

“They came out fired up and I felt like we were a little sluggish in the first 10 minutes,” SVCA coach Bobby Wheelock said. “You can’t do that against good teams like that and they jumped on us.”

“We’ve been talking this whole week about how they will come out with a vengeance because it’s kind of a rivalry now,” said Patriots midfielder Hannah Max.

The Patriots took the hit and rebounded quickly thanks to the Max sisters.

Within a minute, SVCA earned a corner kick that was played short to Hannah Max, who advanced and fired a perfect shot past James Wood keeper Claire Beccaccio to knot the game at 1-1.

Less than 10 minutes later, Rebekah’s twin sister Sarah Max tallied a goal to give the Patriots a 2-1 lead.

“They are really talented players that tie things together really well,” Wheelock said of the three sisters. “They play some beautiful soccer. We’ve seen some beautiful goals this year.”

“They are a fun team to play,” Carden said.“The keeper and her two sisters are really wonderful players. Sometimes I’m in awe to watch kids play.”

The score stayed that way until late in the half.

With under 10 minutes left, Wood’s Katie Padgett moved in on the goal, but had her legs taken out by the outstretched arms of Rebekah Max. The Colonels received a penalty kick that Denton converted. The score was tied 2-2 at the half.

The teams exchanged several scoring chances in the second half until Denton finally found the space she had been working for all game.

“Maddy [Myers] played a great ball in to Katie Padgett,” Denton said. “Katie did a great job to work and turn the ball in to me. I’m just glad I could finish for my team. It felt great. I felt like I wasn’t doing a whole lot for most of the game and it felt really good to able to contribute like that and that I could be there to do something for my team.”

After the goal the Colonels secured their lead for the final minutes with Neary Casebolt calling out defensive signals and stopping anything that came into their defensive end.

Wood still has Conference 21 West action ahead.

“We are right where we want to be now,” Carden said. “Handley is there and so is Sherando but we play them both again. We have everything in front of us and it’s up to us to win. At least we don’t have to rely on anybody else now.”

SVCA will use the confidence gained from hanging tough against a larger opponent in the NACA (National Association of Christian Athletes) tournament in Dayton, Tenn., on May 10-14.

“We want to play teams that are intense and teams that make us have to play our best,” Wheelock said. “James Wood does that. This was huge for us to get ready going into Nationals.”

“I think it showed that we have a lot of heart,” Hannah Max said of the comeback. “This is my first year on the team and I’ve noticed that we always push hard through the downs. I thought we did a really good job and we played tough. It’s always fun playing against these better teams in high school because we get to step up and play against teams we know will be more intense.”