James Wood girls fall in Class 4 soccer title game

CROZET — The final ball had been kicked several minutes earlier, but James Wood’s Donavan Russell felt like he had a little more coaching to do on Saturday.

As his girls’ soccer players were greeted by their parents, Russell told the crowd, “Don’t be sad. Be proud.”

The Colonels set a program standard, but they didn’t have quite enough to knock off John Champe, who got two goals late in the first half from Mya Townes and netted a 3-0 triumph in the Class 4 title game at Western Albemarle High School.

James Wood, which had only one appearance (last season) and no wins in state competition, finished its season 17-2-3, with two state tournament wins and the runner-up trophy.

“We need to celebrate today and the girls did that,” Russell said of his postgame words. “It’s not the outcome we wanted, but it’s still a very special game and a very special place to be. We need to celebrate it and be proud of what they’ve done, what this program has done for years and what this team has done to overcome things this year. We have fantastic supporters and fantastic parents. It’s a group effort. Everyone is involved and I’m proud of our accomplishments this year.”

His players agreed.

“I think this team, we had such a good bond,” forward Jolie Jenkins said. “I just felt we were amazing together. It’s sad that we didn’t get the win, but I think we’ll learn from this and I think we are an amazing team. … All of us wanted to win, but it was just a tough game. … I’m so proud of this team. I don’t even have words for it.”

“We played hard,” midfielder McKenna Newcome said. “We put everything we had out there. We just ultimately didn’t get the win. I’m so proud of us for making it this far.”

The Colonels entered the contest off of back-to-back penalty kick wins (Tuesday against Woodgrove and Friday against Hanover), but could never quite get their offense rolling against the Knights (19-2-2).

Part of that reason had to do with the speed and precision passing from John Champe. The Knights maintained control of the ball and kept it in James Wood’s end of the field for most of the game.

“They moved the ball really well, so obviously when we don’t have the ball it’s hard to play through that,” Newcome said. “We tried to get our counter-attack chances, but kudos to them. They were strong from the forward line, to the midfield to the defense. They just worked hard and played hard.”

“They were a quick team and they were quick all of the way through,” Russell said. “They were stepping in all of those lanes and moving a little bit quicker than we were accustomed to.”

The Colonels were able to keep John Champe off the scoreboard for the majority of the first half. Freshman keeper Alaynah McGuire had three saves in the first 15 minutes and the Knights were wide on multiple shots and headers. Russell singled out defender Maddie Heustis for her play against Townes in several one-on-one situations.

But, John Champe kept on knocking and Townes, a junior who will graduate early and play at Georgia, finally delivered. The Knights threaded a cross from the left side to Townes, who headed the ball into the left corner at the 5:41 mark.

“It was huge for us,” Townes said of the breakthrough goal. “It gave us the momentum to put the second one away.”

And, the second goal came with less than a minute left before the half. Thanks to an inadvertent hand ball in the box, the Knights were awarded a penalty kick. Townes deposited it in the upper right hand corner to make it 2-0.

“That was tough,” Russell said of giving up the late goal. “We haven’t been there in a while. We haven’t given up this many goals since our first game of the season. Still, the mood on the bench was great.”

Townes said the Knights were excited by the goal, but wary.

“It was absolutely ginormous, but then we know that 2-0 is one of the toughest scores you can have in a soccer game because if they get that one goal back the momentum goes crazy,” she explained. “We knew that after getting that goal we had to calm down and control the game more just to make sure we could secure that lead.”

And the Knights did just that by limiting James Wood’s chances to get anything going. Townes hit the crossbar twice in the second half as John Champe’s continued pressure limited the Colonels’ possessions.

“I think they were just very fast and they moved the ball very well,” Jenkins said. “It was tough for us, but I still thought we did very well. We tried.”

Townes said the Knights had an excellent game plan. “We did so much film review,” she said. “We knew going into this game that they were going to be aggressive … and come at us as hard as they could. We knew that we had to keep our composure and that’s what we did.”

John Champe extended the lead to 3-0 on a goal from Lailah Miran from in front with 16:06 to go.

Still the Colonels scrapped until the end. They got arguably their best chance when Newcome got some room and unleashed a blast from 20 yards that was just over the crossbar with 14:15 left.

“Some games you play great and you lose,” Russell said. “Some games you play poorly and you win. We played a great game like we have in the last seven or eight. It’s sports and there’s a winner and a loser and sometimes it’s a heartbreak to be a winner and a loser in a game like today where there’s two great teams.”

When the final whistle blew, John Champe completed a 16-0-1 streak to end its season and made some history.

“It means the world,” Townes said of the win as she and her teammates posed for photos long after the game was finished. “Our school hasn’t won a state title in any sport since we’ve been open. This is huge for us to be able to be a part of history and to finally put that state banner up on the board.”

Immediately after the final whistle, many of the Colonels embraced. Jenkins, a junior who will enroll at Clemson in the spring, and Newcome, a senior who is still battling a rare kidney disease, had a particularly long hug after playing together for the final time. The two combined for 39 goals and 25 assists this season.

“We got so close this season,” Jenkins said of Newcome. “Last year we were close and this year we got closer. Being able to play together in this game meant a lot.”

Being able to compete in a state title game at all was not lost on Newcome, who will play at Shenandoah University.

“I came over to the side and my dad was like, ‘Think about this four months ago. You didn’t even think you were going to be able to play soccer,’” Newcome said through a few tears. “Being able to work through and do it with my girls …. we always coin ‘#together’ and they’ve been there for me through everything, so it’s just really special. It’s a special group.”

Newcome, Jasmine Hackman (who missed the semifinal and final games with an injury), Kelsey Gass and Heustis were seniors on the roster and Jenkins will be in college next spring.

“It’s been a special group,” said Russell of the players who will move on. “I’m really going to miss their leadership. They are a great group of kids, students and young ladies. That leadership and what they’ve done to instill what our standards are and to never have that waver, that’s really special. Their goals and their play has been fantastic, but replacing that leadership [will be difficult] and they believed in the JW blue and gold. That’s the kind of stuff that they’ve instilled in the ones coming up.”

And Russell has faith in those returning players, who helped secure the first regional title in school history.

“It’s not just the seniors,” he said. “We’ve done it together. … We’re not scoring 50 goals a game. We’ve been grinding things out. That kind of mentality — that ‘we’re not going to quit’ — that will carry on. They will make sure that the new kids coming in will understand that. It’s a great momentum builder for us next season.”

And those players and many other will always remember a season where the pride wins out over the sadness.

“I would call it one of a kind,” Russell said of the campaign. “As hard as the girls have worked all year, have really come together and overcome quite a bit of things, it’s special and amazing. There won’t be another one like it.”

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