To start, it was all Woodberry Forest. The Tigers capitalized on a handful of sloppy turnovers and had little trouble in the early going. But from the last half of the second quarter forward, Nansemond-Suffolk seized control. And behind a superb performance in goal from C.J. White, the Saints managed to come from behind and beat Woodberry, 8-6.
“21 saves,” said Tigers coach Brian Hemming. “That’s the difference in the game.”
Behind Griffin Burke, James Malm and Carlson Milikin, Woodberry had 4-0 lead to start the game. But the Saints scored five unanswered to take the lead by the third quarter, and with White stopping everything in sight, the Tigers offense could not create the kind of opportunities it did in the first and second quarters.
“CJ’s been great all season,” said Nansemond coach Tim Hostutler. “But that’s the best game he’s played for us.”
The netminder was a brick wall, and in the second half the Saints’ offense got rolling with Sam Rappaport and Will Crenshaw doing all the heavy lifting.
Down by one and facing a 2-man down situation, Woodberry managed to escape without giving up a goal late in the third quarter, and soon after Hatcher Williams tied the game up on a beautiful move in front of the net.
But that was the problem most of the day for the Tigers. Though they would see plenty of looks in front of the crease, finishing was a problem.
“We got some great looks,” Hemming said. “We were two or three feet in front of the net but could not close. But that’s just the nature of the game sometimes. It happens.”
The Saints shut the door in the fourth by outscoring the Tigers 3-1.
Woodberry was ranked in the top-5 in the state last week, but losses to archrival Episcopal and now Nansemond will send them down the rankings. However, the opportunity to climb back up isn’t far away.
The Tigers hosts top-ranked St. Stephens/St. Agnes on Tuesday before facing another archrival, second-ranked St. Anne’s Belfield on Saturday.
