After already playing to a near stalemate that went to overtime in their first meeting, the stage was set for a dramatic encore between the Western Albemarle and Albemarle girls lacrosse teams.
The two squads didn’t disappoint as Albemarle escaped Crozet with a 13-12 victory thanks to a Connor Carson goal with 2:35 to play.
Things did not start that well for the Patriots though as Western junior Becca Moriconi sent home her third goal of the first half to give the Warriors a slim 4-2 advantage. Albemarle managed to keep it close however when a Rebecca Mendelsohn goal evened the game up at 4-4 with 12:07 left in the half.
The rest of the half the two squads traded runs, as Western jumped out to a 7-4 advantage behind the strong play of senior Peyton Brandt. But Albemarle responded with a 5-0 run of their own, capped by a Mai Toms buzzer beater goal to give the Patriots a 10-7 lead going into the intermission. Albemarle coach Laurie Pratt was ecstatic about her team’s execution throughout the run.
“We really got into our groove in the first half,” Pratt said. “We were able to connect and spread on the attack and really made the most of our opportunities.”
Western coach Nancy Webber-Haws had other thoughts about the run.
“The run there was tough…we made some defensive adjustments at halftime and told the girls to go back to the basics.”
Western’s changes certainly had an impact, as the Warrior defense held Albemarle scoreless for 18 minutes of the second half and clawed back to make it 12-12 after Bridget Shaffery’s fourth goal of the evening with 4:04 to go in the game.
Just a minute and a half later, Carson sliced through the Warriors’ defense to give the Patriots the decisive goal that had eluded them for most of the second half. From there, it was up to goalkeeper Kelsey Rund and the Albemarle defense to preserve the crucial victory. Pratt was pleased with the Patriots’ defensive effort down the stretch.
“I think Kelsey did a great job back there, she made a huge difference in the final minutes of the game and made good decisions,” Pratt said.
