It’s some kind of zone set, but Albemarle’s longstick midfielder Derek Leake wasn’t about to explain the approach.
“I can’t let you know that,” Leake said.
His coach, assistant David King, who’s filling in for head coach Greg Crow who is out currently because of a back problem, was even more evasive.
“It’s the Coach Crow special, that’s what we’ll call it,” King said. “I think we’ve pushed the kids a lot and tonight was the first night its really come together.”
Whatever it was, the set they’ve been working on for awhile but didn’t unveil until Friday night worked perfectly, putting the clamps on archrival Western Albemarle as the Patriots rolled to a 14-3 victory Friday night and a one-game lead in the West Central Division title race over second place Charlottesville.
Western tried to stay patient against the set but continually committed turnover after turnover and struggled to drive toward the cage to penetrate and create better shots. Instead, Albemarle forced the Warriors into taking tough outside shots the entire game and keeper Jake Huber was up to the task, making a series of tough saves.
“The zone gave us problems,” said Western coach Brad Haws. “Our guys weren’t dodging confidently so we weren’t drawing any kind of attention or slide and they were picking it off or we were throwing it away.”
The Patriots were as efficient on the offensive end as they were on defense, creating point-blank shots throughout the contest with decisive cuts to the goal that made life tough on Western keeper Ben Carew. Albemarle also spread the ball around, with goals from nearly everyone in the offense, including a three-goal, one-assist night for John Chandler before the break. Matt Crist dished out three assists and scored a goal of his own off an interception during the Albemarle attack’s ride early in the first quarter.
By halftime, Chandler’s performance and points from Mastroapolo, Hunter Brown, Derek Leake and Kevin Bernardino had the Patriots up 7-2.
The Patriots brought back a lot of offensive weapons, but the emergence of younger standouts like Brown and Bernardino have made the Patriots particularly tough to handle.
“All the kids last year who were freshmen are stepping up,” Chandler said. “They knew they had to step up because it was a big game and I’m glad we won as a team.”
Bernardino, Ryan McCollough, Ethan Stow and Mitch Huber opened the second half with four-straight goals to push Albemarle’s advantage to 11-2 before Western kicked in a goal to finally end a 6-0 run that stretched over the second and third quarters.
Schuyler Dickerson and Nic Drapanas scored first half goals for the Warriors. Nick Crissy, a freshman defender, scored the lone second half goal with a kick-in tally off a ground ball for his first varsity goal.
Western has to turnaround quickly — the Warriors host Monticello Saturday night — while Albemarle goes toe-to-toe with the Mustangs Tuesday.
