Annandale goal keeper Mohammad Osman played a near-perfect game in his team's 3-1 victory against Woodson on Thursday.
Although the lone Cavalier score was not enough to win the game, coach Stephen Howes was still disappointed that his team has allowed a score in the last 10 minutes of each of the last three games.
"The last 10 minutes of the game the team starts scaring me a little bit," said Howes. "Guys are falling asleep. They need to finish the game strong and play a full 80 minutes."
The Atoms played a dominating midfield game in the first half and were able to move the ball fluidly on the ground as opposed to through the air. The back four for Annandale played really tight and secure, making it difficult for Woodson to move into the attacking third of the field and the number of shots on goal taken by the Atoms were nearly triple the number attempted by Woodson.
With two starting freshmen, a different goal keeper than last year, and two senior captains new to this years team, the Atoms, now 3-3 (2-0), are progressively getting better with each game they play.
"Our freshman, Jordan Fox, is doing a good job controlling the defense," commented Howes. "He has really stepped up for us, and he's someone we can build this program around."
Woodson matched up fairly well against Annandale in the first 29 minutes of the game, but after a goal by William Galdamez and another quick goal by Sergio Moya, two and half minutes later, the Cavaliers seemed a little deflated and worn down.
"We played last night as well, in an overtime game," said Woodson coach John McAuley. "That last ten minutes [of the first half] he kinda gave out, but give them [Annandale] a lot of credit, they were very good."
The Cavaliers have been experimenting with using two goalies this season, and after the break McAuley put Carlos Canas on the field. Woodson seemed to gain a second wind and were able to control possession of the ball for the majority of the second half. Sophomore Carlos Canas, made a couple spectacular diving saves to keep Annandale from running away with the score, but gave up the clinching goal to Fredrick Nsiah with less than 18 minutes left to play. Now at 2-3-2 (1-1-1), the Cavaliers are looking for a spark to help turn things around.
"We have to forget everything that's happened and keep moving," said senior Adam Gordon. "We have a team that has a lot of potential and we really have to play our soccer game. For a lot of the game tonight we didn't do that."
Woodson's next game is home against Yorktown. Annandale plays West Potomac next.