The St. Albans soccer team continued its early season winning and shutout streaks with another clean sheet at Bullis Friday. A blustery wind greeted the defending IAC champions as they arrived to the Bullis campus for their first road match of the season. Attacking into the wind in the first half, STA shooters found many of their attempts disrupted but Tom Brady was able to break through in the seventh minute. The senior midfielder hunted down a ball from his brother Patrick along the left sideline, beat a defender to the inside, and beat the goalkeeper from 25 yards out with a low shot inside the near goalpost.

 

With the wind at their backs in the second half, STA’s offense found the net four times. Senior striker Chris Bates scored his first of two goals on the day, finishing a left-wing feed from fellow senior Xavier Wigglesworth. Wigglesworth and Patrick Brady worked a nifty overlap along the left sideline, then Wigglesworth turned the corner on two Bullis defenders and placed a left-footed pass perfectly for Bates, who was attacking through the center lane. Bates struck again three minutes later pounding a close-in shot from the right wing that bounced off the Bullis keeper and continued into the goal.

 

Freshman Will Long stretched the lead to 4-0 in the 29^th minute, perfectly placing a 32-yard rocket of a shot in the upper right corner that was beyond the leaping keeper’s reach. Patrick Brady finished the scoring with 7:35 left after corralling a bouncing ball from 15 yards out and tucking a shot inside the right post. St. Albans is now 6-0 overall on the season and 2-0 in IAC play. The Bulldogs expect two tough tests this week with a Tuesday match at Landon and a home match versus Georgetown Prep Friday on Steuart Field. Both matches kick off at 4:30pm.