Wood girls' soccer falls to Dominion in region final

A historic season came to an end for the James Wood girls’ soccer team with a 1-0 loss to Dominion in the Region 4C championship game on Wednesday night at Park View High School in Sterling.

Ashley Cerino scored in the 20th minute to provide Dominion with the edge in the battle of unbeaten teams. The Titans improved to 14-0 and the Colonels fell to 12-1-2. Dominion advances to Monday’s Class 4 state semifinals at the Region 4D champion.

In a phone interview, James Wood coach Donavan Russell said that Cerrino got some space on a defender and shot from 12 yards out. James Wood goalkeeper Sadie Kerns dove to her right and stopped it, but Cerrino was able to run onto the rebound and knocked the ball into the net.

Russell said both teams did well to limit each other’s scoring chances. With about three minutes remaining, the Colonels almost drew even when McKenna Newcome played a ball from the left side to Ella Myers, who was at the corner of the goal box near the right far post. Given the difficulty of the angle, Russell said Myers took a great shot, but the ball missed hitting the far left post by less than a foot.

“It was so close,” Russell said. “I was really waiting for the net to move. I thought she had put it in.”

Russell said he wished the Colonels could have played on the grass at Kelican Stadium. Every team in the Dulles District plays on artificial turf, and playing on grass has not been an easy adjustment in the regional playoffs, as the Dulles boys’ and girls’ soccer teams lost all three of their games at Kelican Stadium. Park View boys’ soccer coach Arturo Jimenez lamented after his team’s loss to James Wood on Wednesday at Kelican Stadium that he should have had his team practice on grass prior to the game.

“It would have been nice to slow them down a little bit in our natural grass,” Russell said. “[Dulles teams are] used to running on top of the grass, not in it.

“[Dominion] moved quick. They kind of slowed us down in the midfield, put a lot of pressure on us in the midfield. They were physical and fast.”

Russell said James Wood did everything it could to beat Dominion, particularly with its defensive play against a Titan squad which was averaging just under five goals per game and had scored at least two goals in every game but one coming into Wednesday.

The Colonels lost center back Julia Watts to an ankle injury with about six minutes left in the first half. Annalee Woodson moved back from stopper to play Watts’ position, and sophomore defensive midfielder Brooke Geary played in front of Woodson.

“We played the absolute best game we could have, no doubt,” Russell said. “Our defense was amazing. They had a really good player [Brooke Oswald]. I actually challenged Grace Hawkins to not let that girl go by, and Grace played the best game she’s ever played. Annalee was amazing.

“Brooke Geary [had to defend Oswald] a lot, and Brooke just stayed with her, stayed with her and took the ball, and [Oswald] never got a good shot off. They didn’t get a lot of quality, good shots at all, which is fantastic against a team like that. We defended from the top all the way down.”

For James Wood, the 2021 campaign will be one it always remembers.

The Colonels won the Class 4 Northwestern District regular-season title for their first district crown since 2014 and swept Handley and Sherando for the first time, going 5-0 against those rivals.

They won their first-ever postseason tournament by winning the district title against Handley, avenging a loss to the Judges in the 2019 district tournament final.

They beat Loudoun County in the Region 4C semifinals for the program’s first-ever regional win and avenged a 2019 Region 4C semifinal loss to the Captains.

Additionally, by making the region final, James Wood entered uncharted territory. Russell said research shows no girls’ team from Handley, Millbrook or Sherando has ever played in a regional soccer final.

It took the entire team to do it, and they were led by 10 seniors. In addition to Kerns, Hawkins, Watts, Myers and Woodson, James Wood also graduates defender Abigail Ensogna, midfielder Olivia Duck, forward Katelyn Mounts, midfielder Maddy Milburn and midfielder Sophia Pettler.

‘’It was a very, very special season for us,” Russell said. “We tried to enjoy the trip and enjoy each other on the way there. After the game, we took our time, thanked each other, thanked the parents. It’s just been a special team, with that many seniors and that many good, experienced soccer players.

“It’s neat to see what this program has become. This season was historic for this team, which is like a family. They took care of each other on and off the field, and it’s just fantastic to be a part of.”

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at
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