They were patient, deliberate and opportunistic.
Monticello’s offense took absolutely everything a tough Western Albemarle defense gave them Saturday afternoon and made the most of it while the Mustangs’ defense put together one of the program’s finest efforts in some time to ignite an 11-1 victory over Western Albemarle.
“We’ve really been focusing in practice on running the offense and settling down,” said Monticello junior Chase Phillips. “We had great patience and it paid off.”
Phillips led the offense with six goals on the night, scoring from a dizzying array of angles for the Mustangs and dished out a first half assist for good measure. He got a lot of help from Drew Gaffney who put together a three-goal effort as the Mustangs moved the ball through the junior tandem on the offensive end.
The victory came after a string of frustrating losses for the Mustangs, including several losses this season where the Mustangs held decisive leads but surrendered them in the second half including one eight days prior against the Warriors. There was little doubt Saturday as the defense clamped down and created turnover after turnover as the offense kept turning up the intensity.
“That’s what we’ve been working to be capable of,” said Monticello coach Matt Hicks. “I’ve seen it in spurts, it’s been showing up in spurts all year. We did a great job of knowing when to push in transition and when to hold onto it and give our defense a chance to rest.”
Western couldn’t find an answer, with an offensive struggle that was essentially an extension of the squad’s dismal Friday night performance against Albemarle in a 12-3 loss. The nightmare eight-quarter stretch that ended with just four total goals put an end to any shot at a district title for the Warriors who appeared to be a strong contender coming into 2012. More frustrating for the Warriors is that they should have had a slew of scoring opportunities as they won 80 percent of the faceoffs a night after winning 75 percent of them against the Patriots.
Monticello’s defense created turnover after turnover though and extinguished most of Western’s chances. Seniors Austin Wood and Brian Garland led the charge and occasionally kickstarted fastbreaks.
“We’ve made a ton of adjustments (on that side of the ball) and I feel like quite a few of them showed up tonight,” Hicks said. “This week was a big step for us in focusing on defense.”
Jack Lee and William Snipes rounded out the scoring for the Mustangs while Brodie Phillips notched an assist. Snipes also had four ground balls while Jonathan Van Dyke picked up five loose balls and Spencer Van Dyke snagged four.
Monticello will now get a chance to avenge a loss to Albemarle earlier in the season Tuesday night while Western will try and right the ship the same night against Charlottesville.
