WINCHESTER — Handley boys’ soccer visited James Wood on Thursday and continued its strong start to the season by keeping the pressure on the Colonels throughout all 80 minutes.
The Judges defeated their rival 4-0 after outshooting James Wood 18-3, limiting the Colonels to just one shot on goal. Midfielders Micah Combs and Isaac Carter each tallied a goal and an assist, and midfielder Finn Slaughter and forward Evan Creamer also found the back of the net to help Handley improve to 3-0. James Wood fell to 1-2-1.
“Going into this game, we just really had the mindset that we weren’t going to let them have anything,” Creamer said. “So just going out on the field and keeping pressure the entire game just really meant a lot to us.”
The Judges especially applied pressure on James Wood’s defense in the first half, firing off 12 shots during that stretch. Though their shot attempts decreased after the break, they still kept the ball firmly on James Wood’s side of the field for the majority of the game.
Handley head coach Cosmo Balio said his team’s work on the back end allowed it to earn the shutout victory.
“Skip Dixon has played well and held it together for us in the back. And being a senior, he is definitely directing traffic,” Balio said. “We rotated in Brayan Vargas, he had a great game for us coming in off the bench. And then Daniel Bustamante, we can put him anywhere, and he started for us in the back there. I think, just in general, we didn’t play well on the field tonight up top, but our backline just had a great game for us defensively.”
Dixon is one of three captains for Handley this season, and his fellow team leaders Combs and Carter also made an impact against James Wood.
Combs, who attempted all five of the Judges’ corner kicks in the game, tallied his goal and assist off two of those looks in the second half. First, he connected with Carter in front of the net for a score in the 49th minute to make it 3-0, before he sailed the ball from the near left corner into the net to make it 4-0 in the 70th minute.
Balio commended Combs’ efforts to continuously push the ball past midfield, helping Handley remain aggressive on offense. He said the junior’s work ethic allowed him to become a captain this season.
“It’s his effort when no one’s looking, and it’s his effort that no one sees him practicing at 7 a.m.,” Balio said. “That’s what makes him him, and so we all feed off of him.”
Another player Balio said proved instrumental was Slaughter, who scored in the sixth minute with a shot from the far right side of the field, outside the penalty area. Balio said Slaughter “dictated a lot for us,” and that his experience and ability to attract defensive attention has made him a valuable member of the lineup.
“He’s one of the leaders that are starting to kind of coach the other guys around him,” Balio said. “We want him up top. He’s drawn three marks when he doesn’t even have the ball. There’s something to be said about that. You’re causing problems and you’re drawing attention, and it’s opening up things up for other guys.”
Though Slaughter diverted the defensive attention, there were many occasions where the Judges didn’t score even on good looks. James Wood goalkeeper Ivan Cruz Diego made nine saves, several of which came on shots that Handley fired off near the goal box.
Additionally, the Colonels’ defense stepped up, blocking shots and standing tough consistently during the final 20 minutes of the first half to prevent the Judges from running up the score.
James Wood head coach Chris Johnson said Cruz Diego impressed him.
“He’d never played varsity keeper before. This is his first time,” Johnson said. “He’s not used to playing against teams that can shoot the ball, especially from outside the box. I thought he played really well. You look at that team’s percentage of the goals that they put in the net when they take shots on goal … I think he gets to leave here holding his head high.”
Handley eventually broke through in the 30th minute when Creamer received a pass from striker Frankie Gomez, repositioned himself from about 15 yards out and sent the ball toward Cruz Diego. The Colonels’ goalie nearly made the save of the night, diving toward the ball, but it just snuck by him to give Handley a 2-0 lead heading into halftime.
Creamer said the goal came together due to the reps he’s got at practice, and Balio said his decision to rotate Creamer from the right side to the left moments earlier set up the score.
“One thing we do a lot in practice is we practice our runs into the box,” Creamer said. “And I was just coming off of that, coming into the back post, and I was able to place it in.”
“I jokingly said that I’m gonna claim that goal, because I had just made the flip,” Balio said. “And Evan drove it at net, and the keeper tried to make the save, but it was over the line.”
James Wood dealt with its fair share of injuries in the game, as Cruz Diego left the second half at the 64-minute mark and didn’t return until there were three minutes left. Forward Brayden Pineda also spent ample time on the sideline before returning late in the second half, and midfielder Drew Longo was inactive altogether.
Johnson said his team gave its all in the face of this adversity.
“Everybody on our bench had to play. We had 22 players, all 22 of them had to get minutes tonight,” Johnson said. “It’s just the way it fell. Our guys fought hard. A few things were simple mistakes. I don’t know that everything went the way it should have gone for us, but our boys worked really hard and I’m proud of the way they work through it. We get to see that team again, I’m looking forward to it.”
Following this win, Handley will return to the pitch at home on Monday at 4:30 p.m. against Fauquier. James Wood will next face Sherando on the road at 7 p.m. on April 7.
With his team still unbeaten, Carter said he’s enjoyed seeing this year’s roster come together thus far.
“The key is there’s unity,” Carter said. “We lost some guys from last year, but we found some new captains. We have a bunch of senior leaders and there’s just a lot of chatter, a lot of love for all the guys.”
— Contact Joe Tuman at jtuman@winchesterstar.com
Follow him on X @jtuman21