Worrell's hat trick lifts Handley past James Wood

WINCHESTER — Not on their turf, Part II.

For the second straight year, the Handley girls’ soccer team denied James Wood a chance to clinch the Class 4 Northwestern District regular-season championship at its own James R. Wilkins Jr. Stadium, winning on Tuesday by the score of 4-1.

Led by a hat trick and an assist from sophomore Emeryce Worrell, Handley handed James Wood its first district loss and earned a split of their season series.

“The energy, especially because it was Senior Night, everybody was in the best mood they’ve been in all season,” said goalkeeper Emma Westfall (10 saves), one of the Judges’ six seniors. “We were so hype. The energy was off the charts. We had a real good feeling going into this game.”

In their first meeting at Kelican Stadium on April 4, James Wood (12-2, 9-1 district) had a 26-3 shot advantage over Handley (10-4, 9-2) in a 1-0 win.

Handley coach Nicole Hobson didn’t think her team was aggressive enough at the outset of that first game, but that wasn’t the case on Tuesday for a Judges team that has made several adjustments to its lineup since that defeat.

Handley took the game’s first shot less than two minutes in, and while the Colonels would take the next five, it was Worrell who opened the scoring in the 11th minute.

“I think we found the right people in the right spots, found good connections,” said Hobson, whose team played with a second striker instead of one and pushed more people forward in the midfield compared to the last James Wood game. “I think we’re using more of the field. I think we’re making better passes and connections and better runs. I think being more aggressive offensively was important for us today.”

Worrell opened the scoring when she took a ball down the right side. From about 10 yards away from the end line and even with the right side of the penalty box, she sent a shot that was too high for James Wood goalkeeper Jes Taylor (six saves), and the ball went into the left panel of the goal.

The Colonels answered in the 24th minute to make it 1-1. McKenna Newcome collected the ball from Maddy Shirley on the right side of the field near the upper corner of the penalty box, and she beat Westfall with a high shot to the far left side of the goal.

In the 34th minute, Worrell teamed with Mia Hudson to make it 2-1. Worrell collected the ball in the middle of the field and passed it to Hudson. The sophomore then played the ball back toward the middle to Worrell, and after she took a touch to get some separation from a defender Worrell buried the ball into the back of the net from about 15 yards out.

“I think we definitely connected passes,” Worrell said. “We wanted to make sure goals weren’t scored on us and making sure that we were scoring the goals. I think we definitely came in more offensive-minded.”

The duo teamed up again to make it 3-1 at halftime. Just seconds before the half, Worrell played the ball into the box to Hudson. With her back to the goal, Hudson pushed the ball to the left, turned and scored on a shot along the ground inside the right post from about 12 yards away.

“Coming into second half at 2-1 is a lot different than 3-1, being up or down,” James Wood coach Donavan Russell said. “It gave [Handley] a lot of momentum to carry in. At that point, we have to score that next goal, because if we don’t, it changes the complete tide of the game even more. And obviously, we didn’t.”

Worrell completed her hat trick in the 51st minute. Madison Hobson took a corner kick from the right side and played it to an open Worrell, who was about even with the right post from about 10 yards out. Worrell headed the ball in with plenty of pace to put the Judges up 4-1.

With 15 goals and nine assists coming into Tuesday, Worrell has been stellar this year, and Nicole Hobson felt Tuesday was one of her best performances.

“I think she’s starting to learn that she can be threatening quickly,” Hobson said. “She’s a very unselfish player, and I think she’s doing a much better job of looking for her own opportunities, and I think that’s translating to goals for her.

“[Worrell and Hudson] being able to play off each other has built their confidence, and we’re not as hesitant to attack.”

The two teams finished in a 15-15 tie in shots, but the Colonels only managed one shot in the 27 minutes between Newcome’s goal and Worrell’s goal that made it 4-1.

Westfall made several great saves, particularly in the second half. But she gave a lot of credit to the work put in by the defense in front of her. The Judges featured senior center backs Lauren Mason and Sam Stevens and outside backs Mia Kern, a junior, and Audrey DeArment, a freshman.

“Last time we played [James Wood], we were still working with our defense,” Westfall said. “We’ve just been building our back line, trying to figure out who works where. Sam and Lauren had an amazing game and both killed it tonight.”

Russell gave the Judges a lot of credit for their performance.

“I thought they clogged up the middle against us and did a really good job of taking away some of our through balls up the middle, and Emeryce did a really good job of getting open and working hard for some of those shots,” Russell said.

Despite losing to the Judges last year, James Wood still went on to win the district regular-season title and the automatic region berth that comes with it. If the Colonels win their final two games at Millbrook on May 9 and home vs. Sherando on May 11, they’ll have the title.

Handley hopes that it can now go on the type of run it made last year when it beat James Wood. The Judges won their next four games and captured the district tournament by beating the Colonels in the championship game.

“I feel like our timing is good,” Nicole Hobson said. “We sorted things out in the beginning of the season, and now I think we’re starting to really click.”

Handley — which also honored seniors Alivia Ricci, Payton Craig and Jailynn Rivera on Tuesday — will travel to Harrisonburg on Wednesday.

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