For a few minutes at least, with a patient offensive possession that led to the first goal of the game by senior attackman Ben Turner, Western Albemarle appeared ready to go toe-to-toe with St. Anne’s-Belfield.
Five straight STAB goals later and things were firmly in the Saints’ hands as STAB rolled to a 16-5 victory over Western in a cross-county clash Tuesday night in Crozet.
Ian Robertson poured in five goals and two assists on the night to power the Saints’ offense with four of them coming before the break. The Warriors simply couldn’t find an answer for the Delaware bound senior.
“It’s good to get after it tonight, especially when you have a game where you can get some of the younger guys in,” Robertson said. “We tried to emphasize on playing as a team, it was a great team effort.”
Dylan Park was also a critical part of the offense, scoring two goals while Michael McCollough also finished with a pair of goals on the day. Midfielders Charles Sipe, Derek Kaschak and Brent Evans were among seven different players who finished with one goal on the night
STAB’s defensive ride was particularly solid before the break with McCollough and Rob Schotta both intercepting Western passes close to the crease during the clear and scoring quickly.
Western Albemarle’s offense struggled to find the back of the net as longsticks Will Eppard, Branford Rogers and Shane Palmateer did the bulk of the heavy lifting early in the game while keepers Colin Bressan and Chris Leavitt split duties in the cage and combined for 10 saves.
Western’s Schuyler Dickerson picked up a pair of goals on the day to lead the Warriors.
Western will try and bounce back with a critical district game against Charlottesville Friday while STAB gets a couple of days off before a battle with Cape Henry on Friday and Norfolk Academy Saturday.
