Woodbury may not have played the way it normally does, but the Royals were still able to eke out a 1-0 victory over Bloomington Jefferson on Tuesday night at Woodbury High School.
“We dribbled more in that game than we’ve dribbled in two years,” Royals coach Joe Quintavalle said after the game.
“We’re more of a possession, knock it around, speed of play (type of team),” he added. “We just got away from that in this game.”
After nearly 70 minutes of play, junior midfielder Kohei Adams was finally able to break the scoreless tie when he tapped a bouncing ball past Bloomington Jefferson goalkeeper Joe Engel.
“It wasn’t a pretty goal,” Quintavalle said with a chuckle. “The ball barely went in the net, but they all count the same.”
Adams admitted that his first goal of the season wasn’t necessarily his prettiest.
“It kind of bounced and I wasn’t ready for it,” he said.
Adams is in his third season at the varsity level for Woodbury, as is junior forward Alex Santos, who gave the Jaguars defense fits throughout the game with his speed and ball skills.
Santos scored seven goals and added four assists last season, but has yet to register a point through three games this year.
“Eventually I’ll get goals and start picking it up again,” Santos said with a grin.
Santos also said that the Royals will continue relying on their young lineup, which includes three sophomore and three freshmen.
“It’s different winning games like this,” Santos said, referring to the relatively inexperienced roster.
Woodbury started the year looking to replace 10 seniors from last year’s 14-2 team, including Jake Simon and Aaron Clark, who split time in goal last season.
The Royals reached the Class 2A, Section 4 semifinals last season before being edged by St. Paul Central 2-1.
The fresh crop of players may have helped Woodbury keep last Friday’s 2-1 win over St. Paul Central in perspective, Quintavalle said.
“We’ve got a new team this year,” Quintavalle said. “These guys didn’t have any revenge (mindset).”
