An eighth-seed in an eight-team tournament that’s playing on the road can’t dig too big of a hole in the first half.
That squad especially can’t let St. Anne’s-Belfield’s Ian Robertson and Charles Sipe get loose late in the first half, as Woodberry learned the hard way Tuesday night.
Back-to-back goals by Robertson and Sipe during the last 18 seconds of the first half put STAB up by five goals before an extraordinarily long halftime that included a string of lightning delays. Despite a Woodberry surge after that break, that deficit proved too much to overcome for the Tigers as STAB pulled away for a 12-7 victory in the VISAA Division I quarterfinals.
The Saints, who advance to take on Blue Ridge Friday afternoon at 4 p.m., stumbled after the delay as Woodberry cut the deficit to three goals with back-to-back scores to start the second half.
“Those are always tough situations,” said STAB coach Bo Perriello. “We seemed to struggle coming right out of the gate and they had a little push. But at the same time, they’re a good team and we knew they would make a push.”
That was as close as Woodberry got though as the Saints’ Michael McCullough stopped the bleeding with second of his three goals on the night. A few minutes later, two Dylan Park lasers put STAB back in control and up 10-6 going into the final frame. McCullough and Derek Kaschak tallied fourth quarter goals for STAB as Woodberry failed to piece together a significant run.
“The last 24 minutes of the game is what Woodberry lacrosse is about, it’s what we’ve been working for,” said Woodberry coach Brian Hemming. “As a coach I could not be more proud of a group of guys playing the way they did in the last 24 minutes. I’m proud of the seniors showing that to the young guys. Now they’ve seen it and played and so now we all know it.”
Branford Rogers drew the assignment of marking Carlson Milikin as he did in the squads’ regular season matchup and held Milikin to a pair of goals. Defenders like Will Eppard and Shane Palmateer also helped create a series of key turnovers that did Woodberry in.
“We try to match (Milikin) up with athleticism, but that’s still not enough,” Rogers said. “I had the defense backing me up and they played really well every day. We were focusing on sliding early and making sure they didn’t get any easy goals.”
It also helped that any time the STAB defense created a turnover or Collin Bressan made one of his 18 saves on the night, Rogers or Park transitioned the ball well. Park in particular
“I think he’s a very underrated player, I think he’s capable of playing D-1,” Rogers said. “He’s one of the most athletic middies I’ve ever played with, I think he’s going to have an amazing career at Amherst.”
Park’s two third quarter goals also proved his value to the Saints. The calm, collected senior seemed to settle the entire STAB lineup with his play.
“He’s the kind of guy you can always count on when the stakes are high,” Robertson said. “He can play both ends of the field and on offense or defense you can count on him to make a big play when it matters.”
Robertson kickstarted the early offensive explosion that put the Saints up 4-0, unleashing three straight first quarter goals. He finished with four goals and an assist on the night. Fellow attackman Miles Davis dished out four assists on the night to go with his goal that opened the game.
The Saints will take on Blue Ridge Friday in the VISAA semifinals at 4 p.m.
