It was a vintage Connor Carson play, appropriately on senior night, that helped Albemarle hold off Charlottesville High 19-17 for a West Central Division lacrosse victory Monday night.
“It was a good momentum play, just right off a loose ball and taking it right to goal,” said Albemarle coach Laurie Pratt. “She’s really a beautiful player who’s really able to control the game that way.”
Carson checked the ball out of a Charlottesville player’s stick on a clear attempt by the Black Knights, scooped it up near the sideline, pivoted, and raced toward the cage. She made two strong dodges and buried the ball in the back of the cage to extend the Patriots’ lead back to two goals at 16-14. The goal jump-started a spurt that proved to be enough to hold off the resilient Black Knights in the driving rain.
“We were able to dig in and get our momentum back again and you always like that in a team,” Pratt said.
Ryann Murray did the bulk of the heavy lifting offensively for the Patriots Monday, with six goals on the night. Carson finished with five goals and two assists on the night and Hanna Shaps had four goals. Mai Toms had a goal and two assists.
Albemarle built a four-goal lead at the break, but Charlottesville clawed back into the game with a flurry of goals in the later stages of the second half. River Frazier pulled the Patriots within a single goal with 9:34 to play, but that was as close as the Black Knights got as Carson answered with her critical play just minutes later.
“Mia Garland got some goals going and kind of kickstarted everything and we started chipping away a little bit at a time,” said Charlottesville coach Lauren Thraves.
Jayme Kusyk led the Black Knights with six goals and an assist while Kellyn Kusyk chipped in three goals and an assist. Kendall Ballard, Frazier, Garland and Ellie Barber had two goals each.
Albemarle goalie Kelsey Rund checked in with 13 saves.
