Albemarle’s girls lacrosse team is really into goal setting, and going into the Patriots’ clash with Western Albemarle Tuesday, the squad talked about their team and personal goals, and there was some serious consensus.
“Over half of them were score first and score often and we did it,” said Albemarle’s Kelsey Myers. “This is the best feeling ever.”
Albemarle built a sizable first half lead with a huge early run and beat the Warriors 10-5 for a critical victory. The Patriots were up 7-1 at the break with Myers notching three of those goals for a first half hat trick.
“From warm-ups they were in it, they were ready, they were prepared,” said Albemarle coach Lauren Thraves. “Our first four games we’ve had five minutes of being on it, but we haven’t been consistent for the whole game. Tonight that’s something we really talked about.”
That consistency was there, from Myers’ scoring on offense to a Herculean effort in the cage by Caroline Sheppard who made 13 saves for Albemarle against a potent Western Albemarle offense while allowing just five goals.
“She made every single save that she should’ve made and we’ve got to be better shooters, she’s a good goalie,” said Western Albemarle coach Tara Hohenshelt.
It helped Sheppard that she was working with a 7-1 lead in the second half, thanks to a balanced offense beyond Myers’ hat trick. Six other Albemarle players scored a goal each. Caroline Littman, Jenn Wendelken, Jane Pinnata, Bridget Pinnata, Savannah Grierson, Morgan Rose and Erin Keller provided one score a piece while Grierson finished with two assists and Cam Edson and Sarah Hanssen chipped in one each. That balanced offense, consistent effort and critical poise seemed to be the benefit of a challenging schedule to start the year for the Patriots who’ve played private school LIS powers like Collegiate, St. Anne’s-Belfield and St. Catherine’s.
“The girls even said this felt different, I feel like last year they would’ve been frazzled with double and triple teams and sure we had some bad passes and things that didn’t connect but their composure and the confidence they played with us was pay off for us,” Thraves said.
For Western, the loss provided a clear lesson on what they’ve got to work on going forward.
“We have to show up and I give all the credit to Albemarle, they were ready to perform and execute and we need to follow suit,” Hohenshelt said.
Hanna Schuler finished with two goals and four draw controls to lead the Warriors offensively while Anna Kreienbaum, Audrey Russell and Anne Patterson provided the other three goals.
While the Warriors will look to bounce back quickly against Upper Dublin out of Pennsylvania Wednesday, Albemarle will play Monticello on the road Friday night, riding a wave of momentum.
“It means so much, it has set the tone for our entire season,” Myers said. “We had a rough start but now that we know what we can do, now we’re ready to go.”
