Albemarle plays to draw with Mountain View

After the two teams combined for just four shots in the first half, it certainly felt like the team that scored the first goal was more than likely going to win. And that would have been the case, except nobody could score, and as such, Albemarle and Mountain View fought to 0-0 tie in double overtime.

“We had some chances,” said Patriots coach Scott Jackson. “But we didn’t get the shots on frame. That’s what I told the guys. We played with a lot of intensity. We were connecting on our passes but we just need to cherish the opportunities a little bit more and try and see if we can make the goalies make a save because we were shooting left, right and a little bit over.”

For the first 40 minutes of play, both defenses were able to keep the ball at midfield for the majority of the time, and both the teams finished with only a pair of scoring opportunities.

But the pace picked up in the second half as Albemarle finally started to work the ball into Mountain View's end and create some quality possessions behind the play of Steven Bargh, Micah Arseneault, Julian Lowe and Sam McKay.

Bargh had a pair of breakaways where it was one-on-one with Wildcat goalkeeper Brandon Cobb, but could not get the ball on net in time as the Mountain View defense was quickly closing in on him.

“I tried to work as hard as I could for my team,” Bargh said. “But I just couldn’t put one in tonight.”

Late in the second half, John Vaugn had a breakaway opportunity as well, and although the Patriots made a trio quick passes to evade Mountain View's defense, they still could not get the shot on goal.

The Wildcats also missed on their opportunities. Eric Bui ripped a shot in the waining minutes of the second half that sailed just high of the cross bar. And in overtime, it was Mountain View that had the best scoring chance as Herbert Quijano let loose a hard shot on goal, but Albemarle’s Adam Prevost was there to make one of his six saves.

“It was a good smother save and I went down on it to make sure that I didn’t give up a rebound,” Prevost said. “I knew going overtime that I was going to have to come up with something because one goal was going to win the game.”

Niether squad could get much going in the second overtime, and so the match ended in a draw, leaving Mountain View coach Fernando Ramos and his team a bit frustrated.

“We really never found our game and it was real sloppy play on our part,” Ramos said. “It was a boring game to watch – let’s be honest. Albemarle lost a lot of seniors from last year and we’ve got a lot of seniors this year. This is our team from last year playing a brand new Albemarle squad, and so a nil-nil result on the road travelling this far out — I’m pleased with the result, but not with our performance.”

The Patriots (2-0-2, 1-0-1 Commonwealth) will be off during their spring break and resume play on April 13 on the road against Massaponox at 7 p.m.