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Freshmen power Albemarle girls soccer to win over Brooke Point

Photo by Kristi Ellis

With a trip to the Region 5D finals on the line, the Albemarle girls’ soccer team turned to two freshmen that have made an impact on offense all season to lead the Patriots to victory. 

 

Ninth graders Devon Higginbottom and Natalie Wolfe scored all three Albemarle’s goals and the Patriots shut out visiting Brooke Point to advance to region finals Monday.  

 

Higginbottom scored both of her goals in the first half and the Albemarle defense smothered Brooke Point’s offense, not allowing any quality looks for the entire game. 

 

Albemarle’s first goal came just over 11 minutes into the first half on a through ball that Higginbottom collected and shot strongly into the top left corner of the goal to put the Patriots on top for good. 

 

“It set the tone,” said Albemarle head coach Amy Sherill on Higginbottom’s early goal. “Her pressure up top is tough to guard. She is one of those players that is willing to do whatever it takes to find the back of the net and that’s exactly what she did for us.” 

 

Higginbottom credited her teammates’ passing on both of her goals. 

 

“I just knew that they were playing a high line and so I had to get in behind and my teammates did an awesome job just playing me the through ball for that first goal,” Higginbottom said. 

 

Albemarle controlled possession of the ball for most of the game and the Patriots had several shots that nearly got through to break the game wide open. For much of the first half, however, Brooke Point stayed within one goal of Albemarle. 

 

With just over five minutes left before halftime, Natalie Wolfe crossed it to Higginbottom who shot it in off the crossbar to make it 2-0 Albemarle. 

 

“I love playing with her,” Higginbottom said on playing with Wolfe. “She gives awesome effort and great through balls. She’s just a really good teammate.” 

 

Sherill added that the freshmen duo have been very important to her team’s success. “The future is bright for sure,” Sherill said. “They connect well together. They read the game well together.” 

 

The second half was similar to the first, with Albemarle threatening to score on several occasions and not allowing Brooke Point any offensive opportunities. 

 

“Our back line does a great job of making sure that we’re not seeing shots and if we are, then it’s not the other team’s best,” Sherill said. 

 

With a few minutes left in regulation, Albemarle got another goal on a Natalie Wolfe strike to make it 3-0 and seal the victory. 

 

Albemarle will host Mountain View on Thursday at 6pm for the Region 5D Championship. 

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