CHS slips past Sherando

When Fernando Opere’s Charlottesville squad first took the field against visiting Sherando in Monday’s first round of the Region II tournament, he wasn’t exactly gleeful about the matchup.
“They are a very powerful, physical team,” Opere said. “Big and strong. For a moment at the beginning of the game, I thought, ‘Oh my God. We’re in big trouble.’”
But Opere’s players didn’t share his concern as the Black Knights were unfazed by their opponent, scoring in the game’s first two minutes and putting together a calm and collected 3-1 victory over the Warriors.
“Winning today, the way we won, that gave us a lot of confidence,” Opere said. “Now I think this team can play anybody.”
Monica Matsumoto scored the first two Charlottesville goals. The sophomore and Jefferson District player of the year was in the right place at the right time on both her goals, cleaning up on crisp passing.
“We did a good job of getting out players through the box,” Matsumoto said. “The ball kind of just popped out and came right to me on both goals. It was just there and I was able to put it in.”
Shortly after Matsumoto gave the Knights the two-goal lead, Warriors forward Brittini Dennis knocked in a rebound to cut the deficit in half with 30 minutes to play.
Minutes later, Sherando was back on the offensive, when what looked like a routine corner kick wound up providing the Knights with their third goal. With the Warriors lined up aggressively, Maria Szakos was able to snag a 50-50 ball of the corner and make a line all the way up the field for some much needed insurance. Ellie Von Storch took to the opposite side of the field, and when Szakos passed the ball across, Von Storch was able to finish.
“I saw Maria had the ball one-on-one,” Von Storch said. “All she had to do was pass it to me, and she did. I was wide open and just had to concentrate and make sure I passed it into the goal and not mess up.”
Von Storch had the crowd buzzing late in the first half when with her back turned to the net, she managed to cartwheel a ball hard back at the goal. Unfortunately for the Knights, it was lined right into Sherando goalkeeper Rachael Shirley’s hands.
Not to be outdone by Shirley, Charlottesville netminder Clay Eure endured a late shooting surge from the Warriors in the last five minutes of play. Sherando had a pair of shots that looked like sure goals, but the Charlottesville senior found a way to get in front of the scoring attempts on both occasions.
“Today Clay was sensational,” Opere said. “The problem with us is that in the district we are not challenged that often. When you come to regionals you find out very quickly if you have a good goalie, and Clay is fantastic.”
Charlottesville (13-1-1) travels to Broad Run on Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the semifinals with the winner of that game clinching a berth in the Group AA tournament. Last year the Knights fell to Spartans 6-1 in the Region II finals, but Opere isn’t overly concerned, as he’s excited with the way his team has come together in the last few weeks.
“We are very confident right now,” Opere said. “There is chemistry on this team. They play together — they know how to play together. They control the field. It’s just an awesome team.”