Stories

STAB girls lacrosse takes down Albemarle after wild first half

Photo: Tom Pajewski

Something happened for St. Anne’s-Belfield midway through the first half with Albemarle. And it was big enough that the second half was pretty much a defensive walkthrough for both teams. With the Patriots going up early in the first 10 minutes of play despite missing two key players because of injury, things were looking awfully bright for Albemarle. But the Saints squashed that quickly, pouring in 15 unanswered goals with 10 of them coming in the first half to pave the way to a 16-2 win on the road.

 

“When you’ve only got four returning starters, every time we step out I’m not sure what to expect,” said STAB coach Mary Blake. “I keep telling them that each time my expectations for them are rising because we keep looking better and better. I think the key was the way our offense played defensively, came up with turnovers and then on attack, we’re young but this is a veteran attack. We are strong there.”

 

Albemarle got goals from Kelsey Myers and Sarah Hanssen to put their squad up 2-1 with just under 20 minutes to go in the first. But that wound up being the high point from the Patriots as a young but athletic STAB team, perennially one of the best in the state at the VISAA Division 1 level, showed that this team isn’t shedding that reputation anytime soon.

 

“Our girls came out strong and confident, ready to go,” said Albemarle Lauren Thraves. “Maybe STAB had a bit of a slow start and we took advantage of that, but then the gap just got too big. Too many turnovers, 16 of them. But we tried to schedule really good private schools early on so that we could learn what we need to work on.”

 

The impressive 15-0 run was led in large part by Claire Schotta as she scored six times in the first half alone. With just under 18 minutes to go, the Saints had a 3-2 lead. Six minutes later STAB was up 7-2 with 12:48 until the break. And the barrage did not quit from there and McKenzie Maurer and Elizabeth Carden and Catherine Carden started tacking on the offense too.

 

“We’re a young team and we just had to get the ball moving on attack, spread out and take our time,” Schotta said. “We got our cuts in, our 1-on-1 opportunities and I think the attack read that early and was able to get a lot more as the game went along.”

 

Going into the break. STAB was up comfortably 11-2 and was able to outscore Albemarle 5-0 the rest of the way.

 

“They just made passes and created shots that we’re not used to seeing and might not see a lot during the regular season this year,” Thraves said. “I think defensively this game shows us that we need to be tighter, better in that area going ahead.”

 

Nonetheless, in the second half the Saints defense was tested too and there goalkeeper Molly Morris made her presence felt. And with Albemarle missing a physical presence in Jennifer Wendelken and also goalkeeper Caroline Sheppard both because of injury, the Patriots were hamstrung.

 

On the night, Schotta led the Saints with six goals, three assists and six ground balls. Maurer and Catherine Carden both finished with three goals and two assists. Elizabeth Carden had a pair of goals and an assist. Morris had 10 saves in net.

 

“We were all hyped about getting to play an in-town rivalry since we all know so many of the Albemarle players,” Schotta said. “It was a big game that we wanted and I think we were a little nervous because we lost so many players last year but we kept our composure.”

 

For the Patriots, Hanseen and Myers had the two goals while Cam Edson finished with an assist.
The Saints (3-0) will face Flint Hill next while Albemarle (0-2) will play its third straight VISAA opponent with another perennial power in Collegiate.

Comments

comments