WINCHESTER — James Wood’s and Sherando’s high school girls’ soccer teams know as much about each other as two teams could know. Last season they split their season series, with the home team winning each time.
In the first meeting this season between the two Frederick County rivals Tuesday night, not much more was decided. On a cold and crisp night better suited for football, the Warriors and Colonels battled for 90 minutes and still couldn’t decide a winner in a 0-0 tie at Kelican Stadium.
James Wood’s Alaynah McGuire (eight saves) and Sherando’s Jenna Hambrick (four saves) both were solid in the net and both registered shutouts. Wood had a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks.
It was the third shutout in a row for Sherando (2-2-1). James Wood (3-1-1) has registered shutouts in four of its five contests, giving up two goals in its only loss of the season to Handley.
Neither team had played since March 26 after taking last week off for spring break. Both teams were a bit rusty on the offensive side of the ball, struggling to get good looks and shots on goal, and the field and the temperature were no help.
Both coaches praised their defensive play and stressed the need to find some consistency and some offensive firepower, but both coaches were also critical of the field conditions.
“It’s in the best shape it’s been in a lot of years but it’s a little too long,” James Wood coach Donavan Russell said. “The ball kind of gets caught up in it. In soccer the ball should be on top of the grass. With all the weather it needs to be cut and it’s just tougher to play on.”
Sherando coach Patrick Gladden added, “Playing on this grass, the ball doesn’t roll. All of our kids play travel ball and they play on turf. A lot of his kids play travel and they play on turf. You can’t get shots off on this stuff. They can’t pass the ball properly. But it’s what we’ve got.”
Both teams had some early scoring opportunities, foreshadowing a possible offensive shootout. But the goalies were up to the task, and the defenses recovered and took over.
With just under a minute played in the first half, Sherando’s Anna Foster got loose and fired a shot, but it was high and went over the top of the goal.
Three minutes later Sherando’s Delaney Gladden put a free kick on net, but McGuire handled that with no problems.
Nearly nine minutes in, Wood’s Avery Wright took a free kick from in front of the Warriors net, but her shot sailed high and over the net. Just over a minute later the Colonels had another free kick. This time Stephanie Andrade Barco sent it on net, but Hambrick was there for the easy save.
Sherando was able to get some momentum towards the net and had another free kick opportunity with just under 12 minutes left in the half, but Gladden was again denied with another McGuire save.
In the second half, the scoring chances increased but the result was the same.
Sherando opened the second half with three good scoring chances, but McGuire stopped all three shots. Wood’s Kierny Prunty fired a shot that Hambrick was able to make a play on.
Over the last 20 minutes of regulation the goalies and defenses frustrated both offenses, not allowing any really good looks or shots on goal, and the contest remained scoreless after 80 minutes of play.
In the first five-minute overtime, Sherando had the only good scoring chance when Jazmine Castro dribbled down near the end line and fired a ball toward goal. But there weren’t any Warriors in front of the net to redirect the ball into the net, and McGuire was able to secure it.
James Wood had a couple of chances in the second overtime. Less than a minute into the period, DeLaney Newcome fired a shot on net that Hambrick saved. Midway through, the Colonels had an opportunity on a shot from the far side of the field, but it drifted out of bounds and hit the side of the net.
James Wood is back home Thursday against Brentsville.
“I thought Sherando did a good job,” Russell said. “I think we needed to be better. We didn’t connect on passes together. We’ve been working a lot on that. Of course having spring break week off didn’t help, but the girls still trained.
“We need to execute better. We talked about focusing on hitting our passes, let’s make our run. We did it at times but struggled for a lot of the game. We had a lot of heavy touches, turning the ball over, and making things a lot easier for them. The defense has been playing really solid, so that’s a good thing for us. We need to get a little more from our attacking, and we’ll be in good shape.”
Sherando is on the road Wednesday for a rematch with Clarke County. The Warriors are next at home Friday against Warren County.
“We had some opportunities in the second half,” Patrick Gladden said. “They weren’t very good opportunities but they were better than the first half. In the first half they completely won the midfield. In the second half the challenge was don’t let them win the midfield and [our players] definitely stepped up. It’s about effort. But we just didn’t have enough composure [on offense] tonight, and we took some desperation shots.”