Western Albemarle’s girls lacrosse team has built steadily this year, and by all indications, the Warriors are peaking at the right time.
Western snagged a 13-12 victory over Salem in the Region 4A South title game to win the region championship and earn a home game in next week’s state semifinals. The Warriors had already secured a spot in the tournament with their semifinal victory.
Kate Snyder provided the heroics for the Warriors, scoring with 19 seconds to play after Salem had rallied to deadlock the game at 12-12.
Salem put together a strong second half to close down a three-goal gap at halftime (Western led 8-5 at the break) and force the Warriors to come up with Snyder’s big goal late to escape with the win.
Western’s Hanna Schuler and Sammie Magargee each posted hat tricks on the night, with Schuler also notching two assists while Magargee had an assist and five draw controls. Ellie Allen also had a big night statistically with two goals, two assists and four draw controls.
Snyder and Bella Moriconi each finished with two goals while Joie Funk rounded out the scoring with her own goal.
Hamilton Ibbeken and Catherine Adams combined in goal for 13 saves for the Warriors. Lilly Blair finished with six goals for the Spartans to lead Salem’s attack. Jordan Hayes also had a pair of goals and five draws for Salem.
The Warriors (12-5) will face Region 4A North runner-up George Mason at home Tuesday in the state semifinals. Game time is set for 5:30 p.m.
