Wood girls beat Handley with early goal, strong defense

WINCHESTER — With the way the James Wood girls' soccer team is playing right now, it makes all the sense in the world that the Colonels are focusing on the present and not the past.

Because right now, James Wood is clearly the team to beat in the Class 4 Northwestern District.

In a battle of district unbeatens, James Wood outshot Handley 26-3 and made a sixth-minute goal from Jolie Jenkins stand up in 1-0 home win at Kelican Stadium.

Tuesday marked the first time the Colonels (8-1, 5-0 district) faced the Judges (4-3, 4-1) at Kelican Stadium since Handley beat them for the 2022 Class 4 Northwestern District tournament championship.

At the end of Tuesday's contest, James Wood coach Donavan Russell and his players both pointed out that each team's roster is a lot different than last year, and that they weren't thinking about what happened in the past. (The Colonels went 16-3 last year, with two of its losses to Handley.) This year, James Wood has now beaten every team in the district except for Millbrook, which the Colonels will play for the first time on April 13.

"I really like where we are as a team," Russell said. "We're kind of hitting our stride here as we start the second half of the season."

James Wood might have lit up the scoreboard more if not for a spectacular performance by Handley senior goalkeeper Emma Westfall (15 saves).

The Colonels always focus on starting games off fast, and the Colonels used their speedy sophomore forward to do it on Tuesday.

In the sixth minute, James Wood sophomore outside back Nayah Edwards made a long, straight pass along the ground on the left side past the Handley defense. Jenkins beat everyone to it and fired in a high, screaming shot past Westfall for what turned out to be the only goal.

"I was just trying to beat the defender to score," said Jenkins (14 goals, six assists for the season). "It was a tough angle, but I thought had it."

From there, James Wood controlled most of the action and didn't let the Judges threaten its goal until there were seven minutes left in the first half.

The Colonels were stout throughout on defense while using five players at its four back-line spots in their 4-1-4-1 formation. Senior Lydia Watson came in at center back 15 minutes in to replace an injured Madeline Heustis (the junior Heustis would later re-enter the game at outside back). Those two along with Edwards, freshman outside back Avery Wright and sophomore center back Sloane Ferrebee all earned high praise from Russell.

The Colonels used a three-back 3-2-3-2 formation the past two seasons, and Russell said James Wood's new formation is paying dividends. He feels the team is more cohesive in the back and is controlling the midfield better under the direction of All-State junior midfielder and 2022 Class 4 Northwestern District Player of the Year McKenna Newcome (14 goals, 11 assists this season).

"Our defense has been so solid," Russell said. "We've had a couple of little spots early in the season that we wanted to clean up, and we have.

"I told Lydia Watson that tonight was the best I've seen her play. She was strong, she was decisive. She knew what to do and took care of business. I thought Sloane was absolutely fantastic back there as well. The center backs tonight, it was exactly what we needed."

Handley sophomore midfielder Emeryce Worrell (11 goals) nearly tied the game in the second half with a high blast in the 65th minute that Jes Taylor (two saves) got her fingertips on to help send the ball over the top of the goal. But otherwise, the Colonels held Worrell in check to keep her off the scoreboard for the first time this season.

"I thought [defensive midfielder] Brooke Geary did a great job with her, particularly in the first half," Russell said. "When she did get by Brooke, which didn't happen often, our center backs were ready to step, ready to move."

Russell and his players gave a lot of credit to Westfall for her performance, and Handley coach Nicole Hobson certainly liked what she saw from the senior. A couple of the more impressive saves were a diving stop on a close-range blast from Newcome in the second half; and later, a save from a few yards away after Westfall made a stop and Handley tried to clear the ball, only to see it carom off a James Wood player toward goal.

"Her saves were incredible," Hobson said. "There were a lot of shots that probably should have gone in that didn't."

Hobson said the Judges will need to be more creative to generate attacks and be more aggressive physically in the future against the Colonels.

"I think we needed to look for more through balls into the corner and use our width," said Hobson, whose team is next in action on Thursday at Millbrook. "I think we needed to be more physical. I think we were getting pushed off the ball too much. I think our effort was there, but I think our biggest problem was that we needed to muscle up and win those 50-50 balls."

If James Wood can continue to play with the focus and determination it had on Tuesday, the rest of the Winchester/Frederick County teams will have their work cut out for them. The Colonels host Sherando on Thursday before taking on Millbrook next week.

"Within three weeks, we're playing all the local teams," Newcome said. "All these games have kind of been on our mind."

— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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