Western Albemarle’s boys lacrosse team got into a shootout on the road Thursday night against Hanover. With the offensive firepower that the Warriors have a shootout is usually trouble for the opposition.
That proved true against the Hawks who provided counterpunch after counterpunch but couldn’t overcome the Warriors who won the Region 4A South championship 20-18, earning homefield advantage in the Group 4A state semifinals next week.
Western went on a critical 5-0 run in the third quarter aided by a series of Hanover penalties. Western led 13-9 at that point and Hanover managed to rally and tie the game at 14-14 late in the explosive third frame. Western completed a strong run again late in the fourth to take a 20-17 lead and held on from there to beat the Hawks.
Oliver Herndon poured in six goals for Western as teams continued to struggle to solve the longstick midfielder’s presence on the offensive end. James Buetow, who had five goals in the region semifinals, scored four against Hanover and notched an assist. Luke Reilly, John Carr Haden and Carter Elliot each finished with hat tricks, with Haden also dishing out two assists. Jack Lofreddo had three assists and a goal to go with nine ground balls. Herndon also had a huge night on ground balls with 12 total pickups
Goalie Jackson Sours finished with 14 saves on the night.
The Warriors will take on Freedom-South Riding in the state semifinals at home Tuesday after Freedom fell 13-9 to Dominion Thursday night.
