St. Anne’s-Belfield’s girls lacrosse team was coming a little bit unglued in crunch time, which is part of the growing pains a young roster has to undergo. But once they decided to lean on their veterans, they did enough to milk the clock and hold off Western Albemarle for a 9-8 victory.
“We played panic ball for a while, and when you have a young team like we do you’re going to play panic ball when you’re not used to those situations,” said STAB coach Mary Blake. “When I called a timeout, i said we’ve got to get the ball in the hands of those that had some experience.”
The Saints were up just 8-7 when Blake called that timeout, and burned 45 seconds before freshman Claire Schotta burst through the middle of the defense and scored to make it 9-7. Western answered with 36 seconds to play on an Anna Kreienbaum goal, but STAB snagged the ensuing draw and killed some clock before turning it over. Western tried to advance the ball but the buzzer sounded as they crossed midfield.
Despite the loss, it was big-time second half performance by the Warriors, who rallied from being down 7-3 in the first half that was played in the pouring rain. After the break, the Warriors’ defense holding the Saints to just two goals while Western’s offense got going.
“I loved what I saw in the second half, our players are physically capable of doing everything this season and it’s just working on that mental toughness,” said Western coach Tara Hohenshelt. “They need to embrace the fact that we’re really talented and they’re learning how to dominate plays.”
Hanna Schuler stepped up again offensively for the Warriors after posting a huge nine-goal game against Monticello. She scored four goals for the Warriors, who were without several players including key defender Anna Murray and offensive leader Kira Repich due to school commitments.
Kreienbaum also came up big with two goals and an assist on the night. The sophomore has made some huge improvements since contributing as a freshman to a state final four run by the Warriors.
“She’s faster than most of the people in Albemarle County so we definitely want to utilize her speed but she’s done a tremendous job of improving her stick work,” Hohenshelt said. “Now her hands keep up with her feet.”
STAB countered with Schotta,who scored four goals and dished out an assist. The goal with just under a minute was critical and held up as the gamewinner.
“She’s got great stick work and she’s a great shooter,” Blake said. “She can put it in the corner any time she wants.”
McKenzie Maurer notched a hat trick to bolster the Saints’ effort. Elizabeth and Catherine Carden each also had a goal for STAB while Molly Morris made several critical saves in the cage to hold a potent Western offense to just eight goals.
“Molly is being more active back there and she keeps us in it a lot,” Blake said. “Molly was great again.”
Western keeper Catherine Adams had seven saves. Mady Starsia and Reid Ferguson had a goal each while Joie Funk had an assist.
Western gets an 11-day break before squaring off against rival Albemarle April 11 while STAB faces a quick turnaround playing in a tournament in Northern Virginia Saturday.
