Ashburn, Va. — When teams transition head coaches, there’s often a learning curve as was the case with the Briar Woods High School field hockey team. In this circumstance, however, the Falcons leaned heavily on their senior leadership and have excelled early in their 2022 campaign.
Off to a 6-0 start, Briar Woods extended its unbeaten streak, fending off the Woodgrove Wolverines 2-1 on September 8 in Ashburn.
The Falcons got on the scoreboard late in the first quarter when senior captain Emily Winter scored on a pass from sophomore forward Kate Weaver on a corner to take a 1-0 lead.
“[Emily’s] senior leadership and poise is huge,” first-year head coach John Eddinger said. “She sparked the team with that first goal, and she sparks the offense when she plays well.”
[adrotate banner=”10″]Briar Woods added to its lead midway through the second quarter when sophomore midfielder Jaelen Perez scored on a deflection off a corner to give the Falcons some cushion.
“Jaelen is the quarterback of our offense as the center midfielder, and even though she’s only a sophomore, she starts the offense in transition,” Eddinger said. “She stayed in the game emotionally and really helped us go.”
Briar Woods dominated time of possession and took at least a dozen more corners than the Wolverines, but the Woodgrove defense proved tough allowing just the two goals.
“We had a few opportunities there, and we didn’t get the deflections we were looking for, so I felt we were a little unlucky,” Eddinger said. “All the credit to their defense; they came out super aggressively, and their goalkeeper was outstanding.”
When the Wolverines did get their chances on offense, they took advantage, as senior midfielder Emma Vest scored on a corner late in the third quarter to cut the Briar Woods lead to just one.
While their corner execution percentage was high, Woodgrove just didn’t create enough opportunities to overcome Briar Woods as the Falcons improved to 7-0 with the Potomac District win.
Briar Woods (2-0, 7-0) will look to stay unbeaten when they travel to Potomac District power Independence (1-0, 3-0) on September 12 in Ashburn.
“We’re just super thrilled that we’ve made it this far through the season without a loss,” Winter said. “We have a bunch of big games next week. We just want to continue improving every game throughout the season.”
Derrick Jerry captured 100+ photos at the game!
Scoring Plays
| Period | Time | Team | Play | Score |
| 1Q | 0:38 | Briar Woods | Emily Winter | 1-0 |
| 2Q | 7:03 | Briar Woods | Jaelen Perez | 2-0 |
| 3Q | 0:05 | Woodgrove | Emma Vest | 2-1 |
