WINCHESTER — If you predicted before the season that the James Wood High School girls’ soccer team would be averaging 5.5 goals per game through six contests — 2.1 gpg better than last year’s full-season average — after losing the two leading scorers in program history to graduation, someone might have responded with a line from the movie “Airplane!”
“Surely, you can’t be serious.”
The Colonels are serious. And James Wood is glad it can call on senior Maddie Shirley to lead its offensive attack.
Shirley scored the first three goals — including one 20 seconds into the game —and James Wood went on to defeat Millbrook 4-0 on Tuesday in Class 4 Northwestern District action at Millbrook. The Colonels improved to 6-0 (2-0 district) and dropped the Pioneers to 0-5 (0-3).
James Wood — a Class 4 state finalist last year — has outscored its opponents by a whopping 33-0 in its six games. The Colonels’ defensive success isn’t surprising — they brought back starters Meadow Falkner, a Second Team All-Region 4D center back, junior outside back Reese Lessard and Honorable Mention All-Region goalkeeper Alaynan McGuire, who made a stellar stop on the one save she needed to make Tuesday to preserve the Colonels’ 2-0 lead at halftime.
Offensively, though, James Wood lost two All-State selections in McKenna Newcome and Jolie Jenkins, who combined for 39 goals last year and 154 in their careers. Shirley had two goals and two assists last year as a Second Team All-District midfielder, but this year she’s scored a sensational 15 goals, with at least one goal in every game and multiple goals in five of six games, to go with three assists. She started the year with four goals and one assist against Strasburg, and she really hasn’t slowed down since.
Shirley did not expect to produce the way she has coming into the season. This is the first time Shirley has played the “9” center forward position consistently in her career, and she’s simply taking advantage of her opportunities in a well-rounded attack. Five other players have 2-4 goals (All-Region Honorable Mention midfielder Avery Wright leads that group) and Shirley is one of eight players who have 2-6 assists, with Grace Rivas Zelaya and DeLaney Newcome (McKenna’s sister) sharing the team assist lead.
“I feel like my team and I connect very well this season,” Shirley said. “We’re not focused on one person scoring this many goals. We’re connecting passes.”
Wood’s first goal didn’t come off a clean connection, but Shirley made it count. After running onto a throw-in, Rivas Zelaya crossed the ball from the right side. It bounced off a Millbrook defender toward the top of the 18, then Shirley fired the ball in on her first touch over the head of Ella Mannarino (the normal defender made six saves as the first of three Pioneer goalkeepers) to make it 1-0 just 20 seconds into the game.
In the 23rd minute, James Wood scored on a corner kick. After the ball was served in, junior midfielder Ella Watson volleyed the ball toward the goal, and Shirley finished from inside the 6 to make it 2-0. Shirley finished her hat trick in the 44th minute by playing a bouncing ball from Sloane Ferrebee off her body and striking the ball in the air inside the 18 for a 3-0 lead.
“I think she’s playing really well,” said James Wood coach Donavan Russell of Shirley. “You think about seniors being seniors and coming into their final year, and I think she’s just stepped up. She’s putting herself in the right spots. She’s finishing short goals, a few long shots, it’s been awesome. Maddy has always had a certain inner confidence. She plays the game with passion.”
Russell is liking a lot of what he’s seen from his team this season.
“I really love the way we’re moving the ball together,” Russell said. “Friday’s game against Clarke we had three girls with two goals each. Very unselfish. If you’re going to be a team that possesses the ball into the scoring third and you’re unselfish, it’s really hard to defend, because you don’t know who to defend.
“Sloane has played wonderfully, moving kind of more like a [center midfielder] into the offense. She’s been a real experienced, good passer, laying the ball off.”
Watson closed the scoring after taking a cross from Ava Manzo in the 76th minute.
In addition to Falkner, Lessard and McGuire, James Wood’s defense also includes sophomore center back Karlie Orndorff and junior outside back Kierny Prunty, who had little experience at the wing position prior to this season. James Wood held Millbrook to just four shots while taking 18.
“Our defense has been so, so solid,” Russell said. “Defenses thrive on shutouts, and it feels like their confidence keeps growing and growing.”
The Pioneers held James Wood to seven shots in the second half, and Millbrook first-year coach Karlie Hepner felt the last 40 minutes were better defensively.
Right now, the Pioneers need to find a way to win and gain some momentum, and their next chance for that will come on Friday at Liberty.
“We just need to keep our head up going forward,” Hepner said. “There’s so much potential within the group. Today, we didn’t do some of the things we had been working on. When we play quality teams like James Wood, and we’re in games where we’re going to be high-pressed, we need to keep our composure and keep doing the things we’ve been working on and we know how to do.”
The Colonels are showing that they’re capable of being a postseason contender again, and they’ll find out a lot about themselves in the next week while they continue their tour of Winchester/Frederick County schools. They travel to 4-1 Handley on Thursday — the Colonels have not won at James R. Wilkins Jr. Stadium since 2021 — and head to Stephens City next Tuesday to take on 5-0 Sherando.
“We’re playing amazing this season,” Shirley said. “I thought we’d come out strong, but not as strong as we have. It’s definitely fun.”
— Contact Robert Niedzwiecki at rniedzwiecki@winchesterstar.com
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