By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
In a highly competitive game, played on the Fluco’s field on April 21, the Flucos had control of the ball more often and pressed the opposing defense severely, but you have to score to win. If you have more corner kicks than the opposition, you have controlled play, but you have to score to win.
In the first half, senior Christina (Tina) Valladares was literally all over the field for the Flucos. She created scoring opportunities, stole passes and generally controlled play. Freshman Anna Amato also was impressive for the Flucos anchoring a very effective defense. The Black Knights did have some opportunities as well, but it is difficult to score in soccer against an evenly matched opponent. On every level of soccer, scores of 1-0 and 2-0 and 2-1 are very common. In this game, the ball moved up and down the field in the first half, but neither team was able to convert a goal. Valladares had a hard shot on goal late in the half that was probably the best scoring chance of the half, and the Charlottesville goalie fumbled the ball but was able to recover it before a Fluco attacker could get there.
In the first minutes of the second half, Valladares forced a Black Knights defender to kick the ball over the end line, giving the Flucos a corner kick only a minute into the second half. The corner kick was unsuccessful and the Black Knights managed a break away. With two attackers ahead of the field against a single defender, Charlottesville executed perfectly and the Fluco goalie had no chance. Charlottesville led 1-0 with 38:28 left in the half.
Immediately after the Charlottesville goal, Fluco junior Evelyn Demers fired off two promising long shots but neither were successful. Seven minutes into the half, junior Rebekah Kraft fired a shot that was just wide and three minutes later she made a strong run at the goal, but her shot was stopped by the goalie. As the half progressed, the Flucos continued to have possession for a longer time than did the Black Knights, but not by a huge amount. Charlottesville also had some chances that did not succeed. Late in the half, Valladares was still hustling all over the field and with four minutes left she maneuvered past a defender and fired an excellent shot, but the Black Knights goalie was up to the challenge and stopped the shot.
The game ended without the Flucos scoring and Kat Ditta‘s squad fell to 4-5 on the year.
After the game, Ditta noted how Valladares was everywhere, and she also praised the defensive play of two freshman, Amato and Piper LaRochelle.
The girls soccer team played at Albemarle High on April 25 and they are playing at Louisa on April 28. They will then be at home against Goochland on May 2, and against Monticello High on May 5.
