Five months after the Charlottesville High School (CHS) boys’ soccer team won the Class 4 State Championship, the team reunited to receive their rings and celebrate their accomplishments. The ring ceremony was supposed to take place between the Girls and Boys Varsity games against Albemarle basketball game. However, when Snowstorm Blair canceled the game, the team did not let it put a damper on the festivities; instead, they held a private event at Fry Spring Beach Club with the players, families, and coaches.
The event started with a potluck and catching up between players who had graduated and those still at CHS. This was followed by an eight-minute tribute video of the season created by assistant coach Said Osman, highlighting their history-making season. Each player was called up individually to receive their rings and a custom sweatshirt. Additionally, Head Coach Martín Braun spoke about the importance of each player as they walked to the front to receive their ring. Once everyone accepted their rings, both Braun and the CHS athletic director Andy Jones gave speeches in which they congratulated the players and set the intention for the upcoming season. Finally, the team got to mingle and take photos for the rest of the night, soaking in the moment they had worked so hard to achieve.
Although the rings are quite spectacular, they do not fully reflect the hard work and energy that the boys put in throughout the 2024 season.
There is no doubt that the success started with the incredible coaching staff. Head coach Martín Braun has been with the Black Knights for the past five seasons and has won numerous accolades, including being named Central Virginia Boys Soccer Coach of the Year in back-to-back years. The team was also assisted by CHS Physics teacher, Andrew Manning, and former players Ayat Mohamed, Said Osman, and Hussein Osman.
The leadership extended beyond the bench with captain, Elias Zell. Zell joined the roster his freshman year and served as captain both his junior and senior year. He was a consistent player and is described as “the best captain I’ve ever had, and an inspiration to the whole team on the field and off” by teammate Solomon Ross-Milligan. He was named to both 1st team-all-state and 1st team-all- region in his senior season.
The team went 16-4-2 for the season. They had five games in which they won the game by 5 or more goals. Additionally, they had over ten shutouts meaning no goals were scored against them. They beat rival Albemarle High School on their own turf in a 2-1 victory. The regular season set the tone for going into the postseason.
The Black Knights started their postseason run against Millbrook High School on May 23rd. They won by three goals, with Samy Gabramedhin, Thimson Duolo, and Omar Castillo each scoring one.
The team then traveled to John Handley for the Regional Semi-Finals. John Handley started the game out strong with the first goal of the night. However, CHS countered with Duolo scoring to tie up the game before the start of the second half. Amin Zakari scored off a penalty in the second half for the win and to secure a spot in the State tournament.
In the final, they played undefeated Jefferson Forest away. Despite a hard-fought battle, the Black Knights came up short losing 2-0. The game was a back-and-forth affair where Forest gained the advantage through a long throw-in that induced chaos in the box and eventually led to a goal. The second goal came on a last-minute counterattack after the Black Knights sent their keeper into the box to try to send the game to overtime, a decision Coach Martín called a “poor decision” by him after the game. Despite the loss, the Black Knights knew they would be ready if they met them again in the State Final. Next time, they would have a plan.
In the first round of the State Tournament, the team played Loudoun County High School away. As the seconds ticked down, the Knights pressed hard for the first goal to break the deadlock. Zakari came up huge again, banging a shot from just inside the 30-yard line just below the crossbar. This put the program back in the State Semifinals for the third consecutive year.
CHS played against Smithfield High School in the Semifinals on June seventh. The team was able to get the comfortable win behind both freshman Ethan Salvatierra and sophomore Guy Lebon’s first goal of the season. Lebon’s in specific came after 10 seconds of meticulous dribbling through four defenders in the box before sending a shot far-corner past the Smithfield goalkeeper. The boys were happy, but kept celebrations to a minimum: they had found out soon after their game concluded that they would be meeting Jefferson Forest in the state final. Captain Elias Zell said, “[We’re] happy with the win, but now our mindset is just on to the next. We obviously didn’t get the result we wanted last time, but we have belief in our team and our coaches to get it done tomorrow.”
The boy’s soccer team returned to the field the next day to rematch Jefferson Forest for the final of the State Championship for the game. Duolo said, “My mindset going into the game was to not doubt myself and really just to keep a clear mind and just play my heart out”.
The game started off as a back-and-forth affair, with each team unable to generate many chances against two very stout defenses. Suddenly, a cross-field pass from Salvatierra landed at Duolo’s feet and he took a couple of quick touches before a feint to the left gave him just enough space to launch a far post shot. Curling perfectly, it flew past the outstretched fingers of Jefferson Forest’s First Team All-State goalkeeper and into the net. Celebrations ensued, but the team knew the game wasn’t over. 15 minutes remained in the first half, focus was key.
The defense remained stout the rest of the first half, and going into the second half, Coach Martín reiterated their goal at the beginning of the game: limit long throw-in opportunities and counterattack opportunities. They weren’t going to score from open play. The second half proceeded much as the beginning of the first half had, with both teams locked in a defensive battle. Centerbacks Wendell Carr and Rhys Williams won aerial duels, and outside backs Cooper Moreland and Solomon Ross-Milligan locked down the wings. With ten minutes remaining, Coach Martín made the decision to go to a 5-4-1 formation with an extra outside back subbed in. With five minutes left, the Black Knights could taste victory.
As they lined up to take a throw-in, TD came back to help defend in the air and the Black Knights hunkered down. The throw came in high and looping, landing in no-man’s land within the 6-yard box. The ball took a couple bounces, and eventually a JF player got a foot on it. Jonathan Irani made an excellent stop, and the ball rebounded back to the edge of the 18-yard box. Then, a JF player took a one touch volley, and it miraculously found its way through a sea of Black Knights and Cavaliers alike into the back of the net. The world stopped for a second, and the JF players grabbed the ball and ran back to midfield. 1-1.
The rest of the game played out in a frenzied craze, but neither team was able to get the winner. It went to two five-minute periods of overtime. Four minutes in to the first, the ball was sent in to Duolo in the box with his back to goal. He feinted one way, then went the other before he was aggressively brought down by the JF center back. The whistle was quickly blown, and the ref pointed to the spot. Penalty won. Duolo got up in a huff, grabbed the ball, and handed it to freshman phenom Ethan Salvatierra. In his own words, “[he] never misses pens.” With the whole stadium’s eyes on him, he took the ball and placed it on the spot. After a few seconds that felt like years, the ref blew the whistle. Salvatierra took a deep breath, took two steps forward, and slotted the ball to the right opposite the diving JF keeper. The crowd went crazy, and the boys surrounded Ethan in celebrations. Still, the Knights had to hold on for six more minutes. The first overtime period ended soon after, and the second one was a crazy affair. As time was winding down, a long ball was sent up the field to a sprinting Gilbert Kashindi, who made one move and fired a ball into the far post, just as the whistle was blown. The benches erupted as players rushed the field, and Black Knight fans poured down from the stands to greet them.
Zakari described post-match emotions as “[…]one of the best feelings ever, to go down in our school’s history, and be the only team in our district to win states that year just says a lot about our program”.
This was the Charlottesville Black Knight boy’s soccer team’s third State Championship. The team was composed of 26 players. Seniors: Graham Stevenson, Anthony Medina, Omar Castillo, Jackson El more, Cooper Moreland, Abas Noor, Wendell Carr II, and Elias Zell. Juniors: Jakob Weder, Samy Gabramedhin, Landon Neal, Matthias Zimmerman, Amin Zakari, Mulamba Mukuna, Thimson Duolo, Solomon Ross-Milligan, Jonathan Alimard, and Rhys Williams. Sophomores: Jonathan Irani, Cole Davis, Garret Williams, Guy Muguma, and Leo Manka. Freshman: Ethan Salvatierra, Gilbert Kashindi, and Dylan Buzzoni.
Going into 2025, the Black Knights have a new goal, to become the first team in the Jefferson District to win back-to-back soccer state championships. When asked about the 2025 season Duolo said “I think it is obvious what the goal is for next season, it is to go back to back, however, we will have to work hard to do that it won’t just come to us”.
The 2024 state championship team will celebrate for the last time alongside the 2024 boys tennis state championship team and Track State Champion Elaina Pierce Friday, January 17, 2024 between the Girls Varsity and Boys Varsity Basketball game. Please come out and support all the hard work and accomplishments these student athletes have had.
