In an 8-0 thrashing of the Charlottesville Blues, Kelsey Smith stood on her head once again in what has been an ever-impressive season for the Annapolis Blues winger.
With Wednesday night’s win, the Blues, in its inaugural season, clinched a spot in the USL W League 2025 Playoffs.
Needing only 45 minutes, Smith scored a hattrick and added one more assist to her season tally, upping it to four, the second most in the USL W League.
With both teams feeling each other out to begin the match, play was interrupted for a hydration break just 15 minutes in. Directly out of the break, Annapolis opened the scoring. Kelsey Smith drove down the left wing, into the box. As Smith approached the endline, she played a cutback pass to Amanda Graziano, whose shot was headed just wide of the back post. However, Isabelle Franklin was able to redirect the initial attempt, resulting in a simple, tap-in finish.
Caroline Duffy received another nod as the starter in net for Annapolis and was rarely tested through the match. Her only significant save came in the 35th minute as Barrett Callejo found herself on the end of a midfield giveaway. She drove towards goal but was always going wide. As Callejo approached the top of the 18-yard box, shot let her shot go. Ultimately, the shot was met by a simple dive at the near post by Duffy.
Annapolis doubled the lead in the 36th minute. Smith, who assisted the first goal, turned into the goal scorer courtesy of Sarah Martin. Martin slipped in a perfectly timed through ball to Smith, who was quickly in behind the Charlottesville back line. Looking to go at it alone, Smith beat one lone defender who attempted to recover before rocketing her shot into the right-side netting as she put Annapolis up 2-0.
The Blues added three more goals, two from Smith and one from Stephanie Lathrop, to take a commanding 5-0 lead in the half, holding 58 percent possession.
Adding to the scoring was youngster Daryn Barnes in the 59th minute. Barnes found herself on the end of a long ball from the Annapolis defense. As she justled with the Charlottesville defender, Barnes outpaced and outmuscled her, sprinting into the box. One-one-one with Keely Thomas, she calmly slotted her finish on the ground, just past the left leg of Thomas, and celebrated with an acrobatic roundoff.
An own goal in the 86th minute, followed by a Courtney Corcoran first-time banger from the top of the box that found the upper right corner, would see the match end 8-0.
The Blues, through eight matches, have now scored 28 goals and were recently ranked 7th in the June 17th USL W League Power Rankings. Staying on the road, the Blues will face off against Virginia Atlantic WFC on Saturday, June 21 at 5 p.m. in the penultimate match of the regular season.
