By Duncan Nixon, Correspondent
The Fluco boys’ soccer team was unable to generate much offense against the Western Albemarle Warriors on April 25. The Fluco defense worked hard, but a skilled Warrior team made the plays that were necessary and managed to put the ball in the goal three times in the first half to insure a win.
The first half st
arted with the teams playing evenly and scoring opportunities were rare in the first eight minutes of play. The Warriors broke into the scoring column with 28:58 remaining on a well- executed play. A crossing pass from the right side of the field was perfectly on target and was headed neatly into the left corner of the goal. Freshman goalie Ryan Holman had no chance to stop the shot.
Four minutes later, Fluco sophomore Emory Davis almost duplicated this score by Western, but his header shot on a long crossing pass was just wide of the net. After several minutes of back and forth play, the Warriors upped the score to 2-0 with a long shot that was perfectly placed and soared just over the hands of a leaping Holman. This score came with 20:09 remaining in the half.
A third goal by Western Albemarle with 16:39 remaining seemed to seal the Flucos’ fate. This goal came on a point blank shot on goal after a successful long pass to a forward who had broken into the clear. The Flucos were not threatening often enough for it to look likely that they could outscore the Warriors by four goals in the balance of the game. In the rest of the half, it was Albemarle that threatened the most. The Warriors were awarded a series of corner kicks in the final minutes of the half. The Flucos defended these well, preventing any further scores, but the ball stayed mostly in the Fluco end of the field. At the half, it was 3-0 in favor of the Warriors.
Early in the second half, sophomore wing Gabe Carlton made a strong run for the Flucos, but his scoring try was turned away. Shortly thereafter, the Warriors upped the score to 4-0 and that is how it ended. Sophomore wing Mauricio Castillo and sophomore center-back Elijah Bullock were turned away on scoring attempts late in the half.
After the game, Coach Earl Gibson who has a very young team this season, cited junior Finn McLaughlin for his steady play on the defensive end. McLaughlin also showed a strong leg with consistently solid goal kicks. Gibson also noted that he felt that sophomore Ben Mooney played well in midfield, and that Davis adjusted well and performed well when he was moved from attack, back to midfield in mid-game.
The boys’ soccer team hosted Louisa County on April 30 and will travel to Monticello High on May 3. Next week they will host Orange County on May 7 and Charlottesville on May 10. Two more home games follow on May 14 against Powhatan and on May 17 against Albemarle High. The regular season ends on May 21 when the Flucos travel to Western Albemarle.
