The VISAA playoffs are still two weeks away, but if the Woodberry Forest lacrosse team is going to head deep into the tournament, it’s very likely that they’ll face at least one of their opponents this week.
At the beginning of last week, the Tigers were the third ranked team behind number one St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes and number two St. Anne’s-Belfield. But after dropping the last two contests, one to Episcopal and another to Nansemond-Suffolk, Woodberry has fallen in the rankings and the team is looking at an exceptionally challenging pair of games with both excitement and, understandably, also with a bit of anxiety as they look to snap the recent skid.
“We didn’t play well against Episcopal,” said Woodberry coach Brian Hemming. “Then we played a very good Nansemond-Suffolk team, got off to a good start, but then they just wanted it more than us.”
There should be no trouble searching for that extra gear this week for Woodberry. The Tigers will hosts top–ranked SSSA on Tuesday, but it wouldn’t be hard to argue that they’re even more eager to see STAB when they travel to see the defending state champs on Saturday. The two teams have combined to win five of the last 10 division 1 titles, with the Saints winning three times and the Tigers striking twice.
“There’s a reason why you schedule these teams,” Hemming said. “Some teams like to dance around the schedule and avoid the big guys a little bit, other teams in the state like to say ‘Let’s play, let’s go.’ With that you’re going to learn and you’ll win some of those games and loose some of those games. But that’s a part of the process. The pieces of the puzzle aren’t always pretty, but at the end you usually get a pretty nice picture.”
And for lacrosse fans just looking to get a sneak peek at the next level, between Woodberry, St. Anne’s and St. Stephen’s there’s no shortage of collegiate talent, and top notch talent at that – James Malm of the Tigers is heading to Johns Hopkins, both Owen Van Arsdale and Austin Geisler will suit up for Virginia and SSSA junior David Solomon will play for Maryland in 2012.
Black Knights create breathing room
There’s still a month of regular season left in the Jefferon District, but the Charlottesville girls soccer team has to be feeling good about their position. At the bare minimum, it should feel familiar and there’s nothing wrong with that.
With a 2-0 win over Fluvanna County last week – the team that has challenged them the most recently – the Black Knights now half a two-game lead on the rest of the field and they won’t see either the Flucos or Monticello until the last two games before the JD tournament.
And as good as the seniors and juniors have played on this team, the younger talent on the team has not only been getting valuable minutes, they’ve also been producing. While sophomore Maggie McNair has been learning the ropes from senior Zoe Ackerman on defense, Ellie Von Storch has been flying along side a set of freshmen playing well beyond their years in Abigail Intolubbe-Chmil and Althea Pickering.
With the softest portion the Charlottesville schedule looming ahead, this team − which is already deep from one side of the field to other – could well find a way to get deeper which is bad news for anyone else in the district.
One critical game to watch
On Thursday, Fluvannna County takes on Western Albemarle in boys soccer, and the second of two showdowns should have some Jefferson District title implications.Both are unbeaten coming into the week and have been giving other district squads fits and the first meeting ended in a deadlock.
The matchup will feature several big-time players, the Warriors’ Alex Nolet and Aaron Meyers and Fluvanna’s Taylor Rafaly, plus a cast of other talented standouts. These two squads have had some intense battles in the past, and this should be another one.
