STEPHENS CITY — Despite an up-and-down season, Sherando boys’ soccer head coach Seth Wade enjoyed a well-earned victory celebration on his sideline Friday night after the Warriors’ stellar performance resulted in a 4-3 win over James Wood, which concluded their season on a high note.
This spring hasn’t gone the way that Wade hoped it would, but he was thankful for the opportunity to send off his seniors with a win at Arrowhead Stadium.
“It’s been a rough season on the field. Everyone has seen that, of course,” Wade said. “But I’ve never stopped being proud of them. They’ve always given it their all and have fought back a couple times this year. A win against James Wood always feels good and to go out on top feels great.”
Sherando (7-10) completed a season sweep of James Wood (7-7-1) in its final game of the season. The Colonels (0-6 against Frederick County/Winchester schools) could have wrapped up a home game for the first round of the Region 4D tournament with a win, but instead they’ll be the North No. 5 seed and travel to No. 4 Liberty at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
The home crowd at Arrowhead Stadium didn’t have to wait long to see how their Warriors came to play. Sherando earned a corner kick and two free kicks in the first 10 minutes.
Wade believed his team’s ability to maintain possession early was largely thanks to its tactical advantage.
“We’ve been working on keeping the ball and playing possession all year,” Wade said. “Tonight, I think the matchup between our 4-3-3 formation and [James Wood’s] 4-4-2 gave us a lot of space to keep the ball.”
After controlling the pace early, the Warriors’ determination soon paid off.
At the 28-minute mark, senior midfielder Jack Weisbrod lined up for a free kick just outside the 18-yard box. His kick deflected off the Colonels’ defensive wall back to himself, allowing him to lift a pass to the right side of the 6-yard box where freshman Danny Hill headed it by Wood’s keeper, senior Zach Myers (five saves).
Meanwhile, the Colonels struggled to generate momentum on offense until a free kick from its side of the field with three minutes left until halftime.
Triston Debela sent the ball deep into the 18-yard box where it deflected off a Colonel and ended up in front of sophomore forward Daylin Paige, who headed it into the side of the net to even the score.
In the second half, Sherando wasted no time reclaiming its lead, with Weisbrod leading the charge.
Just over two minutes into the second half, Weisbrod again had the ball within striking distance of the Colonels’ goal. Thanks to a timely Timmy Hill pass, the senior navigated his way up the right side of James Wood’s backline and sent a shot that careened into the far corner to put the Warriors ahead 2-1.
Weisbrod credited the chemistry that he’d developed with his teammates over his career for his go-ahead goal.
“Danny Hill played a great ball to Timmy, his brother, and I’ve played with Timmy my whole life and we know each other like the back of our hands,” Weisbrod said. “There was so much space in the midfield that once he saw me running and got the ball to me, I was able to put it where the keeper couldn’t get it. It was something that we’ve done so many times before.”
The Warriors weren’t content to sit on a one-goal advantage.
Only three minutes later, at the 34-minute mark, Sherando’s Landon Rust fielded a long pass inside the Colonels 18-yard box and sent a header across the defense that landed in the far corner to make it 3-1.
At the 21-minute mark, Timmy Hill broke away from the Colonels defense and looked as if he would have an unassisted goal of his own. But at the last second, he gave the ball up to the streaking junior Lukas Moezer, who finished a wide-open look that broke the game open at 4-1.
Wade said it was great to see the Hill brothers have such a big impact on Friday.
“Timmy’s been a huge player for us the past couple of years, and now we’re excited to have Danny with us,” Wade said. “It’s fun to see them link up together to help the team get a big win.”
Weisbrod believed his team’s ability to pass the ball well was the difference-maker that propelled the Warriors’ offense.
“Passing is something that we’ve absolutely gotten better at,” Weisbrod said. “We came in sort of passing the ball well on the ground, but Coach Wade put a few practices in where he had us working on just playing it to feet and keeping the ball on the ground to not let a bigger team like James Wood attack us in the air like that.”
The ballooning deficit forced the Colonels to alter their offensive tactics, according to James Wood coach Ronald Velasquez.
“We looked to utilize the space behind the defense,” he said. “But once you go down, you have to go look for those balls up high and press up high.”
This approach finally recaptured some of the momentum for James Wood.
In response to Sherando’s offensive explosion, the Colonels methodically worked the ball down the field and ended up with a contested shot inside the 6-yard box that was booted into the net by senior midfielder Tristan Escalona with 15 minutes left to play.
With a little under three minutes left to play, and the pace of play working squarely in the Colonels’ favor, James Wood’s junior forward Brayden Pineda buried a penalty kick that got his team to within a goal of tying the contest at 4-3.
The clock continued to work against the Colonels as they sent shots in quick succession towards the Sherando goal, but it wasn’t enough as the final whistle sounded.
On his team’s performance, Velasquez felt as if they failed to be consistent throughout the entire 80 minutes of play.
“We’ve had issues this year giving up games that we shouldn’t just by not being clinical, not just in finishing up top, but also defensively,” Velasquez said. “Clearly, through the middle part of the game we didn’t look the part, which is frustrating.”
Velasquez said the challenge facing his team now is putting this game behind it to prepare fully for postseason play.
“It’s frustrating to end the regular season like that and have to play a really strong Liberty team on the road,” Velasquez said. “We have to be able to play a full 80-minute game if we want to win any game in the regional playoffs. It’s the same thing the message has been with the other losses that we’ve had.”
Velasquez believed the high stakes of the game had an effect on his team’s performance.
“The pressure was big for us tonight.,” Velasquez said. “It’s a game against a cross-[county] rival, and we’re in regions fighting for the No. 4 seed trying to force Liberty to come to our home field, and it played to [Sherando’s] advantage.”
After Weisbrod played his final game in Arrowhead Stadium, he spoke about what the win meant to him.
“It’s been four years on varsity, and tonight was the culmination of a lot of hard work by everybody,” he said. “To finally end the season on a win, it means so much to me.”
Weisbrod said the win meant a lot to the senior class.
“Tonight, we told ourselves to do it for each other,” Weisbrod said. “We’ve played together for at least two years and it’s just an awesome part of being a family, and that’s what Sherando soccer is — a family.”
Wade believed Friday night’s win would enable his program to enter the offseason with some positive momentum.
“It’s good to have a good win fresh on your mind and to know what you’re capable of on a good night,” Wade said. “We want to carry that into the summer.”