By Tommy Keeler Jr. -- Daily Staff Writer

WINCHESTER — Sherando didn't have many opportunities in the first half, but the Warriors made the most of them.

The Warriors scored three goals on four shots and pulled away for a 5-0 Northwestern District win over Millbrook on Thursday.

"Coach [Pat Anderson] is always telling us to make the most of our opportunities, and tonight we did that," Sherando's Josh Mort said.

Millbrook controlled the game for the first 12 minutes. The Pioneers had several chances, but just missed on their opportunities.

The Warriors finally went on the attack in the 13th minute, when Scott Guichard took a pass from Carlos Chavez and knocked it in to put Sherando up 1-0. Guichard was surrounded by two Millbrook defenders as he took the pass, but was still able to get the shot off.

"I just tried to focus on the ball and not who was around me and struck through it," Guichard said. "Carlos made a nice crossing pass and I just happened to be there. We've been working on scoring from the post and we finally got it."

Alejandro Arellano scored a goal with 13 minutes left in the first half to extend the lead to 2-0. Five minutes later, the Warriors had another opportunity to score.

Mort attempted a penalty kick with eight minutes left in the half and made it, but a violation forced him to kick it again. Mort was just as successful on his second attempt and the Warriors (10-3-2, 8-3-2 Northwestern) had a 3-0 lead.

"The first one was a better shot than the second one," Mort said. "I was just unlucky that I had to retake it, but at least I was still able to put in."

The Pioneers (5-7-2, 4-6-2) outshot the Warriors 6-4 in the first half, but still trailed 3-0 at intermission.

"Probably possession-wise we controlled the ball more than them, and usually when you do that you're going to win," Millbrook coach Neil Hammond said. "Still, we got hammered 5-0. Defensively we made some mistakes and they just kicked us off the field. They were just a stronger team offensively."

Mort scored eight minutes into the second half with the prettiest goal of the night. The senior midfielder fired a shot from 25 yards and drilled it into the left corner of the goal past Millbrook keeper Tarek Kipry.

"I got the ball and had a little space to shoot it," Mort said. "Luckily it went in."

Sherando finished the game with 11 shots to Millbrook's 10. The Pioneers are battling injuries as sophomore Ryan Runion is out for the season with a broken toe.

"Sherando just beat us fair and square," Hammond said. "If we could have scored in the first 10 to 15 minutes it could have been different. Then on their first real attack they went down and scored and I think our kids got down on themselves."

The win clinched second place for Sherando, which won the district title last year. The Warriors advanced to the Region II semifinals last year and the team is focused on doing well in next week's district tournament and getting back to regionals again.

"We're just going to try and build on this and just keep getting better," Mort said. "I think we've clinched second now, so we're just going to go and try to win the tournament."

*Contact Tommy Keeler Jr. at tkeeler@nvdaily.com

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