Angie and Lizzy Chapman found themselves in a 2-on-1 situation on a fastbreak in the second overtime, with one Western Albemarle defender marking the two Albemarle attackers. Lizzy, the heady senior who was a little further outside the play, thought quickly.
“Lizzy being the selfless person that she is said ‘cut, cut’ and so I cut, my sister stayed back,” Angie Chapman said. “Sarah (Hanssen) sent me a perfect pass and the rest is a blur.”
With her sister helping hold the defender in place, Angie Chapman flashed toward the goal and Hanssen found her. With 1:41 to play in the second overtime, the junior connected and in the process lifted Albemarle to a 12-11 victory over Western in a down-to-the-wire installment of one of the area’s top girls lacrosse rivalries.
“We’ve gained so much confidence over this season, just pumping each other up,” Chapman said. “We completed the last plays of the game because of each other. If one person is confident, we just bounce energy off each other.”
Chapman’s goal was the decider in part because of the newly adjusted overtime rules that have taken the girls game from a timed overtime to a sudden victory situation immediately after regulation.
“The draw controls have a little more emphasis,” said Western coach Tara Hohenshelt. “You’re keeping an eye on the clock but you’re really looking for the best opportunity. We did have opportunities and we need to do a better job of taking care of the ball and shooting.”
With a track meet breaking out during overtime, Albemarle seemed to handle the transition game nicely, showing very few nerves as the ball flew up and down the field.
“We’ve been doing a lot of sprints and working out really hard,” said Albemarle sophomore Jenn Wendelken, who poured in five of the Patriots’ 12 goals. “All of our hard work just played out on the field today.”
That improvement in transition came in part because the Patriots have been working on that aspect of the game in a pretty intense way.
“This week we worked on transition a lot, filling the lanes, finding the open holes and making the right cuts,” said Albemarle coach Lauren Thraves. “Even working on switching fields and letting them know that going backwards to go forward is okay. So yeah, they’ve been working on it this week, we’re cleaning it up.”
The game see-sawed back and forth throughout, with multiple lead changes and short runs that never allowed either team to gain any real control of the proceedings. With 2:40 left in the contest, Western pushed ahead on a Hanna Schuler goal, one of her four goals and an assist on just five shots in the game as part of an incredibly efficient effort by Schuler. But Wendelken answered with her fifth tally of the day with 1:59 to play, the goal that eventually forced overtime at 11-11.
While Western came up on the short end of the stick in overtime, it’s the kind of game that the Warriors need to play in and play well in to get where the 2015 state finalists want to go.
“Absolutely, I think they have a lot of great players and they’re really well-coached,” Hohenshelt said. “They’re always ready to play us and we’re always ready to play them and it’s a battle. We’re just so lucky to have that opportunity.”
Outside of Wendelken’s explosive effort, Albemarle got goals from Lizzy Chapman who scored two goals on just three shots, Morgan Rose who had two goals and Summer Maxwell and Anna Murray who had a goal each. Wendelken also led the Patriots with seven draw controls while Lindsey Earles finished with five draws.
Albemarle keeper Caroline Shephard finished with nine saves.
For the Warriors, Hannah Planz had a goal and two assists while Sammie Magargee and Bella Moriconi each had two goals. Moriconi also led the Warriors with five draw controls. Audrey Russell and Kate Snyder each had a goal as well.
Goalies Catherine Adams and Ava Divita combined for 12 saves for the Warriors.
Albemarle will host Charlottesville Wednesday of next week while the Warriors look to bounce back on the road against Monticello the same day.
