The Albemarle boys lacrosse team exploded for seven goals in barely three minutes at the outset and never looked back in a 26-3 thrashing of visiting Brooke Point in the Region 5D quarterfinals.
The win vaults the Patriots into the region semifinals where they’ll host Patrick Henry-Roanoke with a state tournament berth on the line Wednesday at 5 p.m.
The Patriots dominated in every facet of the game, beginning with a 22-10 edge in the faceoff circle. They limited Brooke Point to nine shots on goal while cranking out 32 themselves.
Timmy Myers had four goals and Andrew Scanlon notched three, with both of them adding five assists. Ty Fjeseth and JC Winterton also had hat tricks for the Patriots, who got goals from 13 different players on the evening.
After goalie Matt Willis stopped a couple of early Brooke Point chances, Scanlon opened the scoring with 8:48 to play in the first to begin the avalanche for the Patriots. Zach Dibblee followed by scoring unassisted off the ensuing faceoff, then Scanlon scored again, and Albemarle was off to the races.
“When we move the ball around, we’ll keep it that way the whole game,” Myers said. “That fast start really helped us offensively.”
The lead got as large as 9-0 when the Black Hawks got on the board courtesy of Christian Leaf with 2:07 to play in the first. But they didn’t score again till a bouncer by Kuane Vila midway through the second, and by then Albemale had gotten the first three goals of the period. They then rattled off a 5-0 run to take a 17-2 lead into the break.
“We came out feeling like we’re the team to beat,” Myers said.
Nineteen of Albemarle’s 26 goals were assisted. Dibblee, Forrest Warner, Lucas Rambo and Cooper Cramer had two-goal performances, while Bruce McClain, Eb McCarthy, Nolan Pittsenberger and Daly Sembrowich also had goals. The Patriots used just about every player on the roster, including a few who spent the regular season on the JV team.
“It’s hot, so it helped we got the chance to run a lot of guys so we can be ready to go for the next game,” AHS coach Dave King said. “We hadn’t played in about a week, so it just took a couple minutes, but we settled down and shared the ball.”
Andre Sammel registered a third-quarter goal for Brooke Point.
The Patriots will take on Patrick Henry-Roanoke on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
