Usually a win is a cause for celebration for any team but for the Battlefield boys soccer team, head coach Ott Pimsean used the Bobcats' 1-0 victory over Woodbridge more as a teaching lesson.

After the game ended, while standing on the south end of the field, the fourth-year coach could be overheard stressing the importance of keeping up with wing players on the sidelines and making sure players aren't beat in transition.

"I just think we just need more ball control," said the coach during an interview afterward before mentioning that some of the newer players are still shaking off some nerves. "But I think it's coming along."

Pimsean's record shows he knows what he was talking about as the team is coming off a run to the Group AAA state title game last season. The Bobcats lost by just a 2-1 margin to Cox, the top-ranked team in the commonwealth entering the state tournament.

On Friday night, Woodbridge managed to keep Battlefield off the scoreboard all the way until the closing minutes of the first half when senior forward Kyle Beach chipped in cross-field kick from teammate Carlos Corrales with his head to score the Bobcats' lone goal.

"We actually played on defense through the midfield over to Carlos and Carlos played a beautiful ball over the middle and I just tracked it down and put it in the post," said Beach.

That Battlefield defense proved to be the team's strength as goalie Jack Eaton recorded a shutout and the line severely limited any attack opportunities for Woodbridge throughout the night.

Meanwhile, Beach said the offense set up counter attacks while applying pressure. Senior forward Troy Allaire emphasized that, after pressuring an opponent, "we always need to make sure we crash the box, just for a loose ball.:"

"Our wing players our like pretty quick and, like, pretty good with the ball," he added. "They have good endurance, so they'd run down the side and keep up with Woodbridge's wingers, and that's what kept us in the competition."

The head coach Pimsean highlighted the play of senior Cody Cox in particular, who he said could have played midfield for the Bobcats this season but, because the team "needed to fill some holes" on defense, opted to stay on the backline.

"He's a team player," said Pimsean.

Beach explained that he can "always rely on him to put the ball either out of bounds or out of danger," while Allaire mentioned that he trusts Cox to "get the ball out of danger and up to the midfield to the strikers."

Battlefield counts five seniors among its defense, including Eaton, Cox, Abdul Mohsini, Erics Rodriguez and backup goalie Jason Gibbs, suggesting the team has experience despite having a different look from last year.

It's up to the upperclassmen and team veterans to explain to tell younger players "what the expectations are," according to Pimsean, who has coached some of the players since their middle school days.

"They know the game is for them to play," the coach said. "They have to executive." After all, "they know where they want to go," he said, referring to the state title game. "They good thing is we've been there, we know what it feels like.

"We know what we need to do to get there again," said Allaire. Beach added, "We know what it takes to get there and we've got to keep pushing."