WINCHESTER — When this year’s graduating class joined James Wood High School’s soccer program four years ago, head coach Donavan Russell could foresee the positive impact that they would have on the trajectory of his team.
After four years of coaching and mentorship, Russell was thrilled to watch as the Colonels, led in almost every way by seniors, played on their Senior Night just as he’d stressed to them over and over again — together.
“The unselfish play tonight was incredible,” Russell said. “To see that even on Senior Night that we’re playing together is really a testament to who the seniors are.”
With seniors playing a big role on Thursday evening at Jerry Kellcan Stadium, James Wood avenged its loss to Sherando earlier this season and earned its fifth straight win, this time by a score of 3-1.
The Colonels (11-3-2) broke a scoreless tie at halftime by scoring all of their goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half against the Warriors (10-5), who lost for the fifth time in six games.
Wood outshot Sherando 6-3, a figure representative of its offensive advantage in the first half.
Midfielders Maddie Shirley and DeLaney Newcome paced the Colonels’ attack, each sending shots on goal. These two worked in tandem all night long.
“They’ve really started to sync up how they move together, and I think that’s been the real key the last couple games with them,” Russell said.
Set pieces became a staple of James Wood’s possessions throughout the first 40 minutes, as the Colonels earned two free kicks and four corner kicks. The latter category was the source of most of the Colonels numerous first half near-misses.
The Warriors, despite having several good looks, couldn’t capitalize early.
“We’ve struggled for several weeks now with just getting shots on goal,” Sherando head coach Patrick Gladden said. “We play good possession until we get up top and then we can’t capitalize. We’re working on it.”
The Colonels came out for the second half white-hot.
A little under four minutes in, senior Mary Kimble pushed the ball through the Sherando defense and angled a shot that bounced off the glove of Warriors’ keeper Rhys Neff (seven saves), with the ball bounding over her head and trickling into the goal. Sloane Ferrebee had the assist.
Just two minutes later, Newcome delivered a pass forward into the 18-yard box, where Shirley buried the ball into the back of the net.
This duo struck again just three minutes later, this time reversing roles. Shirley worked the ball from the left side and arched a pass across the field to Newcome, who sent a shot off her right foot into the net to notch Wood’s third goal in five minutes.
Russell attributed Shirley’s and Newcome’s performances to their abilities to work as a unit.
“Tonight they recognized that they could beat that back line together,” Russell said. “They had some great through passes to split the back line.”
Shirley and Newcome described this back-and-forth dynamic as being the result of honing their chemistry over the course of the season.
“We’ve been working on that all season,” Shirley said. “We both play up top and just try to work off of each other.”
As the second half wound down and the pace slowed, Sherando finally capitalized.
Taking a long pass from the right side, McKenna Hardy, a day removed from winning the triple jump and high jump at the Northwestern District track meet, put the ball on the ground and booted it into the back of the net with 10 minutes left to play.
“She’s been banged up but she’s still playing,” Gladden said. “We’ve all got to play hurt.”
Gladden said the Warriors have suffered some key personnel losses due to injuries, but added that his team has to play better.
“We had our chances tonight, but we also had three defensive breakdowns, Gladden said. “We’ve just got to do the little things better.”
Russell thought his team did a great job of defending Sherando’s offensive attack, an effort he believed is indicative of his team’s character recently. Alaynah McGuire had nine saves.
“We defended together incredibly well tonight,” Russell said. “Everybody was defending together.”
Russell reflected on the role that this year’s senior class has had in setting the standard at James Wood.
“I look at this group and they’ve had a lot of success,” Russell said. “We’ve had major milestones — a regional championship, two state tournament runs, a district championship when they were freshmen and all the games in between. I looked at them tonight and told them that they’ve been the glue that has held a lot of these games together.”
The Colonels’ head coach also underscored the impact they’ve had in advancing the soccer program as a whole.
“They’ve just done everything to really move this program to where it is,” Russell said. “To see this class go is going to change how we look next year. They’ve just been so special for the last four years.”
James Wood has a lot of season left, but Senior Night had Shirley reflecting on her time as a Colonel.
“It’s so sad,” Shirley said. “Time flies and I just didn’t expect it to come this fast It’s just so special to end it with this team. My class has made history and it feels so special to be a part of it.”
Next up, James Wood hosts Handley on Tuesday and Sherando travels to Handley on Friday.