Blue Ridge’s offense took all of eight seconds to get in gear Tuesday afternoon against Covenant, jumping out to a 1-0 lead on a quick play off an opening faceoff win.
“We looked good today offensively, definitely moving the ball well and finishing,” said Blue Ridge coach Kyle Gardner. “It was a really high tempo which we like to push.”
Blue Ridge kept that tempo through most of the contest, moving the ball throughout the contest and rolled to a 14-7 victory over the Eagles. Tyler Pace poured in four goals and four assists to lead the Barons’ attack while Tanner Fisher also registered eight points, dishing out five assists to go with a hat trick of his own. Chase Fraser also poured in four goals.
Covenant struggled to counterpunch before the break as the Barons kept pushing that tempo.
“I got on the guys at the half because I felt they were a little shell-shocked,” said Covenant coach Joe Dewey. “I was just trying to pull something out of us.”
He got something as the Eagles bounced back and put together a solid second half. Jack Murray led the way offensively with three goals and an assist. But every time Covenant managed to score, Blue Ridge had an answer, maintaining a safe margin throughout.
“Every team battles it year round, nothing is ever going to be 100 percent perfect during a game,” Gardner said. “You’ve got to take every negative and turn it into a positive.”
One big positive for the Barons was an assortment of strong performances on ground balls. Midfielder Cory Takahara finished with eight ground balls to go with his goal and two assists. Faceoff man Jared Arntzen picked up six ground balls and close defender Jack Hamer picked up four on the day.
Nick Voso finished with 14 saves in the cage for Blue Ridge and Rylee Marsh rounded out the bulk of the scoring with a pair of goals and two assists.
Blue Ridge heads south to take on Roanoke Catholic this Saturday while Covenant hosts the Covenant Invitational Saturday.
