By Luke Nadkarni / Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
The Albemarle girls lacrosse team got four goals from Gwen Pattison and three from Heidi Karweik while holding visiting Douglas Freeman scoreless for over 14 minutes in the second half to eke out a 13-12 win over the Rebels in the 5A South Region semifinals Tuesday night.
The game was close throughout, with neither team leading by more than four goals at any point. Freeman drew first blood only 35 seconds into the game when Ellie Cox beat AHS goalie Caroline Sheppard, but the Patriots got goals from Pattison, Karweik and Mary Earles over the next six minutes to take a 3-1 lead and they never trailed again after that.
“Gwen has gone back and forth playing defense and midfield all year,” first-year AHS head coach Lauren Thraves said. “I knew tonight would be a good game for her to move up and attack. Heidi had a great game — she was hustling everywhere.”
The teams traded the next two goals before Cox, who scored three goals for the Rebels with, completed her hat trick with two straight to tie it at four with 10:57. But the Patriots responded with a 3-0 spurt, getting a goal from Pattison and two from Lizzy Chapman to regain the lead. A late goal from Freeman’s Sarah Fortune closed the gap to 7-5 at the half.
The Rebels scored to open the second half almost as quickly as they did in the first, with Karoline Nease firing in one of her three goals 39 seconds in. Pattison brought the lead back to two for the Patriots, but Freeman got goals from Carley Craddock and Jane Shawcross to knot the score once again with 20:59 remaining in the game, forcing Albemarle to call a timeout. That’s when the AHS defense really took control.
“I talked to them about getting refocused and remembering what we’re playing for,” Thraves said. “I think we were too busy watching players and not the ball, and missing our help defense. But we’ve been so consistent all year coming out of timeouts and scoring right away.”
The Patriots proceeded to hold Freeman scoreless for the next 14:09, all the while going on a 4-0 run featuring goals from Pattison, Karweik, Earles and Summer Maxwell to make it a 12-8 game with 8:21 remaining. The Rebels didn’t touch the scoreboard again until back-to-back goals by Shawcross and Craddock cut the Albemarle lead in half with 6:13 to go, but Karweik netted her final goal of the night to push the margin back to three barely a minute later.
The score remained that way until 1:09 remained, when Fortune brought the Rebels within two. Albemarle controlled the ensuing draw and attempted to run out the clock, but Freeman was able to wrestle the ball away and Nease made it a one-goal game with five seconds remaining. However, that was not enough time for the visitors to find a shot, and the Patriots celebrated a berth in the state semifinals, where they will meet the winner of Deep Run and Massaponax.
“I absolutely had confidence that we’d close it out,” Thraves said. “I turned to my assistant and said, ‘If we ever need a draw control, it would be now.'”
