WINCHESTER — Woodgrove High School will always be associated with arguably the greatest Kelican Stadium moment in James Wood girls’ soccer history — a penalty kick shootout over the Wolverines for the program’s first state tournament win in 2024.
The Colonels had opportunities to recreate that joy in their first game since against the Wolverines. But ultimately, they couldn’t find the back of the net against a veteran Woodgrove squad.
Senior defender Mary Grace Clegg scored less than two minutes into the second half for the Wolverines, and the 2025 Class 4 state runner-up made that goal stand up a 1-0 win in Tuesday’s state quarterfinals.
James Wood (15-4-1) had its 12-game winning streak snapped by the Wolverines (14-4-2), who finished with a 19-4 shot advantage. The game was much closer than those shot totals indicate, though, and the opportunities the Colonels did have were plenty dangerous against Woodgrove, which features 17 returners from last year’s team.
The Colonels had two excellent chances to score in the last 15 minutes after being held without a shot in the second half until that point.
“I thought we did most of what we had to do tonight to get the win,” James Wood coach Donavan Russell said. “I think we were a little spotty early, but that’s kind of been our M.O. for most of the season.
“Woodgrove was fast. They really adjusted to our grass well. We had opportunities. We had the chances we were looking for. They just didn’t quite go in the goal. I’m really happy with how we played overall.”
The Wolverines’ only losses this year are twice to 2025 state champion Loudoun County, once to Region 4C champion Heritage, and once to Broad Run. With the Class 4 Jubilee at Woodgrove this year, the Wolverines will get to host Atlee in Friday’s semifinals.
“We set some team goals, and it was to get back to the state championship from Day One,” Woodgrove coach Lucy Etro said. “They’ve been hungry all year. We’re getting the ball on the ground and moving it around a lot more than we have in the past, and it looks really good when we can do it. The girls just look so much more confident this year.”
The Wolverines came within inches of striking first in the 10th minute. After a James Wood foul on the left side of the field just outside the penalty box, Woodgrove’s ensuing free kick bounced off just about where the crossbar and post meet on the right side of the goal.
The Colonels only had three shots in the first half. It took the save of the game on James Wood’s first shot to keep the Colonels from taking the lead in the 17th minute.
Woodgrove goalkeeper Rowan Newell — headed to Division I Richmond next year — played a long ball from the back, and it was quickly sent back. It went to DeLaney Newcome, who blasted a high, hard shot that Newell had to leap for and parry over the goal. James Wood almost scored again in the 38th minute when Wright turned and ripped a shot high from outside the 18 after a hard deflection went to her feet.
In the second half, Woodgrove struck quickly. The Wolverines’ Anna Fuller played the ball across from the left, it went past a crowd in the center, and it kept traveling to the right. Clegg had nothing but space in front of her to shoot from just outside 10 yards on the right side, and she blasted a shot toward goal. Alaynah McGuire (eight saves) got her hands on the ball, but it had too much heat for her to keep the ball from deflecting backward instead of forward.
“I kind of blacked out a little bit,” said Clegg when asked about the ball rolling toward her. “I was like, ‘I’m going to kick it low to the ground, and try not to kick it over.’
“We wanted to come out fast and progressive in the first half and second half, and try to finish as much as we could.”
Woodgrove would take the game’s next seven shots, but McGuire made four saves in that time to keep the Colonels in the game.
“I thought she played great,” said Russell of McGuire. “I thought she was pretty steady.”
In the 65th minute, James Wood’s Emily Kimmel made a strong push toward the left end line and earned a corner kick for the Colonels. Wright took the corner kick, and Newell came of her line to punch the ball away.
But she lost her balance while doing so, and she deflected the ball backward instead of forward. Aubrie Darnall crashed toward the goal and almost knocked it in. But a couple of Woodgrove players denied her, then the loose ball was cleared from the goal mouth.
“Aubrie was right to it the whole time,” James Wood senior midfielder Kierny Prunty said. “She was running through the [Woodgrove] girls. We don’t know how it didn’t [go in]. She tried her hardest.”
The Colonels would have get one last strong look at the goal in the 73rd minute. Wright won the ball away from a Woodgrove defender in the box after they both sprinted after a long pass, but Wright’s shot veered to the left of the far left post.
The effort that Darnall and Wright displayed in those situations was typical of James Wood’s effort throughout the season.
“We always do things together,” James Wood senior defender Reese Lessard said. “I think today, we definitely came into this game together, and we didn’t stop being together.”
Lessard made those comments while being surrounded by her three fellow seniors in Wright, Prunty and Meadow Falkner. It was difficult for the group to hold back tears as they talked about a season that started 3-3-1 before winning 12 straight games.
The first eight of those victories were by shutout, and the Colonels earned their 13th shutout of the season last week when they beat Blacksburg 1-0 for the Region 4D title. In winning their second region title in three seasons, James Wood bested last year’s win total by four.
“I think [this season] was really fun,” Wright said. “We worked together. We improved over the season. We just loved coming out on the field together. I think we just had a great time playing together. For [the seniors], we just knew we had to go all out, all game. We worked really hard to get where we were.”
Russell appreciated the leadership displayed by his four seniors.
“Having a young squad like we did, I pulled those [seniors] aside in tryouts and said, ‘Look, you have to bring this team up. It’s going to be just as much on you on the field as it is the coaching staff.’ And they really embraced that. Great leadership. They took their time [with the younger players]. As we hit May, we were playing much better. Girls like [freshman] Autumn [Gilbert], [junior] Khloe [Roman] and [freshman] Grace [Wilson] were coming in and playing good soccer.
“That’s really a testament to what this team was. They were going to do it together. Player-led teams win games, and that’s what we saw this season.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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