It was a tall task.
Less than 24 hours after perhaps the biggest victory in the Blue Ridge program history —a semifinal victory over St. Anne’s-Belfield that was reportedly the first in school history over the cross-county rival — the Barons’ fifth-seeded squad needed to slay another giant in St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes to win a VISAA Division 1 title in the school’s first season in the D1 playoffs.
Tall task might be selling it short.
The Barons fell Saturdy at the hands of a tremendous defensive effort by the Saints as SSSA wrapped up its second state title in three years with a 7-4 victory.
“We knew watching them yesterday and going through scouting reports that they just have tremendous sticks,” said SSSA coach Andy Taibl. “You try and limit the times they can get their hands free, so it’s a lot to ask. Our guys stepped up and did a good job of staying on hands.”
Joe Kenna was one of the Saints who stepped up in a big way, holding VIC player of the year Tanner Fisher in check throughout the title game. Fisher managed just one goal with Kenna marking him after sparking the Barons with three goals Friday in the semifinal victory over STAB.
The Barons couldn’t find much other scoring either, as Andrew Risse, Tyler Pace and Jared Arntzen provided the other three goals, and Blue Ridge only forced keeper Sam Beazell to make six saves for the Saints.
“I’m upset but I’m just upset because I know how much hard work the guys put it into this year,” said Blue Ridge coach Kyle Gardner. “And I know how bad that we wanted it as a team.”
Blue Ridge still seemed poised to make a comeback in the late stages of the game and actually had a man-up opportunity with around seven minutes to play. But SSSA’s Brent Armstrong transformed a turnover into a shorthanded fastbreak goal that put the Saints up 6-3.
“He’s just a tremendous character guy and he’s our leader,” Taibl said. “When we come out on the right end of things in close games it’s always been him that’s done something to get us going or get us one at the end to help us seal it.”
While the Barons’ defense played admirably against a powerful, talented SSSA squad, Grant Swaney managed to get loose several times and tallied a hat trick while the UNC-bound Armstrong had a pair of goals.
Blue Ridge wrapped up a thrilling second season in Division I that included regular season wins over Collegiate and Woodberry Forest and road playoff victories over Christchurch in the quarterfinals and STAB in the semis.
“We did things this team has never done before,” Gardner said. “We’re overall really pleased with how this has played out for us.”
