Restless Western drops Monticello

With a slew of rain delays and cancellations over the past two weeks, the Western Albemarle boys soccer team is just anxious to play.
“We’ve even lost practices,” said Warriors coach Paul Rittenhouse. “We got one practice in last week. We’ve had one game in two weeks. We’re just hungry to play.”
Rittenhouse’s squad finally got back on the field Thursday night, and play they did. On the road against Jefferson District rival Monticello, the Warriors’ offense poured it on in a 7-1 romp.
“Our passes became more efficient from the first half to the second,” Rittenhouse said. “That led to the offensive productivity that showed up on the scoreboard. But you can’t just sit on a win like this. You have to keep moving forward.”
Western forward Alex Nolet put his team up 2-0 in the first half. The Mustangs kept a close watch on Nolet after his second goal, but the sophomore took notice and worked the ball around to his teammates.
“I watch Barcelona play a lot,” Nolet said. “They really work as a team. They sort of show me that, if there’s a better way to score, you go do that.”
Fellow sophomore forward Aaron Myers picked up the slack, scoring three second-half goals to pick up a hat trick.
“I got a lot of great balls from the center,” Myers said. “It was an easy finish every time.”
Throughout the game, the Warriors’ play in the middle of the field kept Monticello on its heels. The Mustangs spent the vast majority of the game defending their own goal.
“We’ve been going about connecting all three parts of the field,” Rittenhouse said. “It’s something we did well tonight, but can still continue to improve upon.”
For Myers, Western’s recent success is a result of familiarity. Since losing their first game to Albemarle three weeks ago, the Warriors have strung together four straight victories.
“Our team has come together really well lately,” Myers said. “We started out the season really slow but with practice and everything, we’ve gotten a lot better together.”
The chemistry showed on the stat sheet. Western (4-1, 2-0 JD) managed to outshoot the Mustangs 21-6.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Western, because they played an outstanding game,” said Monticello coach Justin Bell. “We were missing some guys, we were disoraganized. Hopefully when we get everyone back we can put it together.”
Monticello (0-2-1, 0-1-1) kicked up some offense late in the second half. With three minutes to play, forward Anthony Matos went through three Warrior defenders and put Monticello on the scoreboard.
“With a few minutes to go, he could have just laid down,” Bell said of Matos’ goal. “I thought it showed a lot of heart.”
Kyle Gardiner had a busy day in net for Monticello in his first time back in net since his freshman year. The senior finished the game with 9 saves.
Western plays at home against Charlottesville on Monday at 6:30 p.m.
Monticello hosts Fluvanna County on Monday at 7 p.m.