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Depth and Balance: Western girls lacrosse pulls away from Albemarle

Photo by Bart Isley

 

A ton of young talent flowed into Western Albemarle’s girls lacrosse program this season with five freshmen joining the Warriors. That’s a frightening proposition for opponents of the Warriors, who finished as the Class 4 state runner-up a year ago when another strong freshman group that are now sophomores gave Western a boost during that campaign. 

 

“We had a bunch of freshmen come in and they all contribute everywhere on the field,” said Western Albemarle sophomore Maggie Craytor. “We’ve been able to come together as a team and our chemistry is just great.”

 

That depth and those freshmen played a big role Monday night as the Warriors pulled away for a 17-11 win over rival Albemarle. 

 

“We talked at halftime and we kind of calmed down,” Craytor said. “We all worked together and it worked out.”

 

The Warriors’ decisive run really started in the final minute of the first half, shortly after the Patriots had evened the score at 8-8. One of those freshmen, Meghan Hundley, notched her second goal with 2:22 to play in the half and then Craytor scored essentially back-to-back goals with 47 and 32 seconds to play respectively, completing a four-goal first half that was part of a six-goal night for the sophomore. 

 

“We’ve been spreading the scoring around all year,” said Western coach John Warner. “I think everyone can score off the run and off the plays and that makes it hard to defend.”

 

Another freshman, Taylor Florin, notched a hat trick herself during a four-minute stretch early in the first half, scoring back-to-back-to-back goals. She and Hundley each finished with three goals ( Hundley also notched two assists and Florin had one) while fellow freshman Gigi Hathaway scored twice and hauled in seven draw controls. 

 

“We lost a couple of top players last year and end up with all these really high quality, highly-skilled freshmen that step right in,” Warner said. “Five of them started, the girls are stepping up. We’re playing really well as a unit.”

 

The teams’ more seasoned veterans were locked in too. Senior Sophie Lanahan dished out four assists while classmate Mallory Greene scored twice, forced three turnovers and picked up four ground balls. Sophomore Reeve Goldstein had a goal and three assists. 

 

Western also clamped down defensively and limited Albemarle to just three second half goals after surrendering eight before the break. The Warriors enjoyed the return of usual starting keeper Kennedy Buntrock who is working through an injury and played the first half, then got a big boost from Nora Wood’s six second half saves including one off the face mask late and a critical stop with four minutes left that snuffed out any realistic hopes of a late Albemarle rally. 

 

Albemarle got a lot of scoring going in the first half with Lauren Grady driving the attack as Grady poured in five goals and had an assist in the loss. Ella Dofflemyer had four goals ad Sophia Bombaderi scored once and dished out three assists. Western’s 13-6 advantage on the draw limited Albemarle’s ability to keep pace offensively, particularly in the second half. 

 

The Warriors will face Salem Thursday at home while Albemarle will look to bounce back Friday on the road against that same Salem squad.

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