Albemarle girls lacrosse’s Kelsey Myers just keeps getting better and better.
“From last year to this year and even every game, she improves every time out,” said Albemarle coach Lauren Thraves. “The control that she’s showing — I think last year she would’ve just cut, turned and shot — she’s really seeing what’s there.”
With the Patriots squaring off against Western Albemarle again, they needed everything they got from Myers to pick up a 12-10 victory over the Warriors. The sophomore attacker scored five goals, dished out an assist and picked up a team-high three groundballs to spark Albemarle to the win.
Albemarle still has work to do before the postseason, including a Tuesday clash with Monticello, but with a hard fought win over Western Albemarle Friday night, the Patriots are on the cusp of their first unbeaten district season since this year’s senior class joined the program as freshmen.
In the latest installment of Albemarle’s rivalry with Western, the Patriots were able to build a three-goal lead and then bleed the clock over the final 10 minutes with a series of long possessions. That limited Western’s chances for a comeback on the other end, and when the Warriors did get opportunities, junior Caroline Sheppard kept answering the bell in the cage, making tough save after tough save, ringing up 14 stops on the night.
“She had a great game, she had some big stops and that really helped us,” Thraves said. “That really fuels our transition and attack.”
Western cut the lead to 11-9 on an Audrey Russell goal with around 10 minutes to play, but that’s when Albemarle went to work on burning the clock and turned an up-and-down game into a grinder. Western scrapped valiantly but couldn’t get the ball out of Albemarle’s stick and convert on the other end enough times to complete a comeback.
“I’m really proud of the fight, they’re bringing passion, they’re bringing hard work — they’re fighting the entire time,” said Western Albemarle coach Tara Hohenshelt. “We are getting better as the season progresses.”
The Warriors’ own sophomore standout Anna Kreienbaum registered a hat trick and an assist while Russell and Hanna Schuler each had two goals. Western struggled at times on the draw, a spot where Albemarle has built a lot of its unbeaten district record with the dominant tandem of the tall, rangy Jenn Wendelken and the cat quick Morgan Rose giving teams fits.
“Albemarle played really well tonight and we all hate losing but it was a lot of fun to coach and watch our players compete,” Hohenshelt said.
Beyond Myers’ explosive performance, Albemarle got a balanced effort with Anna Murray scoring twice while dishing out two assists and four other players had a goal each. Cam Edson, Erin Keller, Angie Chapman and Rose scored once. Rose also had an assist.
“We had some trouble clearing early on and some transition not making great passes and we weren’t catching everything but the second half was much better,” Thraves said. “We cleaned that up.”
