The rivalry has been there in other sports, namely football, but it’s clear that there is a healthy dislike now between the St. Anne’s-Belfield and Blue Ridge lacrosse programs. In a rematch of last year’s VISAA semifinal between the Saints and Barons, it was a great battle in the first half followed by a messy second half where penalty flags flew left and right and St. Anne’s was able to take advantage of its opportunities to pick up a 14-7 win at home.
“We got ourselves in a bit of a pinch at the end of the second quarter with some penalties and it gave them a belief they could get some momentum going,” said Saints assistant coach Myron Ripley. “After that we got some good fast break opportunities and because of that we got them on their heels.”
Since STAB lost to Blue Ridge in May, goalkeeper Colin Bressan has been watching the game tape against the Barons over and over. While there was no question that the Saints offense put on a good show, Bressan and his defense in front of him held Blue Ridge to just four goals through the first 44 minutes of play.
“With what they had coming back from last year, we knew that anywhere (Chase Fraser, Rylee Marsh and Callum Tanner) got their hands free, they’d shoot,” Bressan said. “So we made sure to stay on their hands. Since that game last year, I’ve probably watched the game film 15 times and it was frustrating. But we got it this year and it’s just exciting.”
With the Saints holding a 6-4 lead at the half, what looked like a great back-and-forth in the making turned into a one sided affair with STAB scoring the next five goals. The Saints saw Charlie Cory open up the send half with a goal in the first 45 seconds, and 15 seconds later, teammate Charles Snipes made it 8-4.
Cory, Derek Kaschak and Scott Cathcart each found the back of the net for STAB to finish the third and start the fourth and make it 11-4 and put the Saints in complete control with nine minutes left in the game.
“Our offense, they were amazing putting up the 14 goals today,” Bressan said. “We just kept the momentum going, kept scoring and played a 48-minute game. That’s what coach (Bo Perriello) tells us to play, 48 minutes of hell.”
Blue Ridge was able to get out of its offensive funk late in the fourth with Canner Tallum, Chase Fraser and Rylee Marsh scoring. But St. Anne’s didn’t let up either as Will Grossman scored in between a pair of goals from Miles Davis.
“We were in the box for what felt like 48 minutes, a lot of stupid mental errors and then I think we lost our heads and forget how we play the game,” said Blue Ridge coach Kyle Gardner. “It was good to see the push in the last few minutes but those parts of the second and then the third quarter where we were non-existent on the scoreboard, it was pretty evident that we just didn’t show up to play 48 minutes.”
There were 21 penalties in the game, most of them coming in the third quarter when things got cantankerous, particularly when STAB defender Will Eppard suffered an injury on a late hit. But both teams calmed down in the fourth.
The quarrelling second half was vastly different from an action packed first half. Blue Ridge got on the board first with a goal from Marsh midway through the frame. Just moments later though STAB tied it up with a shot from Grant Shultz. The Saints got three more goals in a row from Connor Healey, Shultz and Cory all scoring in succession between the end of the first and the start of the second. The Barons battled back to score three of the next six goals with Tanner, Marsh and Fraser getting warm. Grabbing the other two first half goals for the Saints were Schultz and Connor McCullough.
For St. Anne’s, Cory and Schultz each finished with a hat trick. Davis had a pair of goals. Cathcart, Healey, Snipes and Grossman each had a goal and an assist. McCullough had a team best eight ground balls to go with his goal. Bressan faced 30 shots from Blue Ridge and came up with 15 stops.
For Blue Ridge, Marsh and Fraser both also had hat tricks. Tyler Pace had two assists. Sam Ross made nine saves in net. Jared Arntzen won 15 faceoffs and had a team high eight ground balls.
The Barons (6-2) travel to St. Christopher on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
The Saints (5-4) hosts Cape Henry Collegiate on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
