West Virginia daily

By Bart Isley / Daily Progress correspondent April 26, 2005

The Charlottesville and Western Albemarle boys' soccer teams played to a tie Monday night at Western.

The Black Knights (5-3-1, 4-1-1 Jefferson District) and Warriors (6-2-1, 4-0-1) also tied in their first match last season in what has become one of the most heated rivalries in Central Virginia. Monday night's match ended after two scoreless overtime periods, 1-1.

The first score came 10 minutes into the second half when the Warriors' John Freeman stuck on a pass from freshman Tom Whitmore. Milo Oakland struck a crossing pass that Whitmore tipped to Freeman for the score.

Twelve minutes later, Charlottesville evened the game on a Paul Garrity header with 18:00 to play. Garrity redirected a high, looping pass by junior forward Jake Van Yahres to tie the game.

Outside of the two goals, the game was marked by physical but clean defensive play. In the first half, each team only had one shot apiece and despite 90 minutes of action, each team only managed one goal.

Several backline players on each squad made remarkable one-on-one stops during the game. The Warriors' Peter DeJong made a terrific play on a one-on-one breakaway in the first half when he knocked the ball away from Charlottesville forward Reggie Calhoun. Calhoun was on a breakaway with just DeJong between the junior and the goal, and DeJong stretched out to tap the ball out of bounds.

"He's a real intelligent back for us," Western coach Paul Rittenhouse said. "He's very savvy and all three of our backs play with a sense of integrity in that they don't want to give up any one-on-one battles."

The Knights' defensive highlight came with just seconds to play in the second OT. Keeper Nick Kell got his hands on a Western header and forced it wide to preserve the 1-1 tie. As CHS fans surely remember, Kell also made a winning save in the state title game last season.

"This is his third season of soccer period," CHS coach Kevin Madigan said. "He's made big saves several times for us this year, and that was as big as they are."

One problem that plagued the Black Knights from kickoff to the final whistle was a number of offsides calls. On several breakaways the Charlottesville forwards got just a step ahead of the WAHS defense.

"We're going to work on it next week," Madigan said. "I think what caused most of that is that our midfielders tend to play the ball a little bit late and our guys up top run a little too directly at the goal. On the [final offsides], if [Garrity] plays it on the first touch, [Van Yahres] has a serious chance at a goal."

Tensions were high throughout the game, and the physical play was indicative of the hostility between the two squads. Last year, each team went 1-1-1 against the other. The squads followed the season-opening tie with a 2-0 Charlottesville win in the regular season sequel and a 3-1 Western victory in the district tournament final.

On Monday, two yellow cards were given out, both to Charlottesville, and both teams had numerous free kick opportunities off fouls. Madigan seemed to think that while the game was intense, both teams kept the proceedings clean.

"The inner-city rivalries are always difficult," Madigan said. "They're teenage boys, they get charged up and it means a lot to them, so they're going to play hard. I'm okay with that as long as it doesn't get dirty and it rarely gets that way with these two teams."

The tie sets up a major re-match on May 19. If the teams continue on the course they're on right now, the Black Knights would trail Western by just one game for the regular season district crown.

"I don't want to look too far ahead, but it seems like at the end of the year we're always playing for something," Madigan said. "I relish the games. They're clean and they're hard fought. Western is particularly well coached, they're organized and they have very talented players. You always want to play someone like that."

This is cache, read story here