Sometimes you just need a change, a shift that creates a spark. When St. Anne’s-Belfield’s boys lacrosse team needed one Friday night in a 13-9 win over Woodberry Forest, they turned to sophomore Michael DiGiacomo, a player who already made a change that helped the Saints when he converted from shortstick midfielder to close defense before the season started.
“When it comes to (being) a team guy, Michael’s done everything you could ask,” said STAB coach Bo Perriello. “Switching positions, he’s become one our most reliable close defensmen, we run him at longstick middie and then today we needed him to move up to faceoffs and he did a great job there.”
DiGiacomo put together a dominant second half on faceoffs and in the process he helped STAB rip off a decisive 5-0 run to start the second half that transformed a game that was deadlocked at 5-5 at the break, putting the Saints in control.
“It’s big, we run on emotion definitely,” DiGiacomo said. “We get the bench hyped, that gets the team hyped and turns the game around. We spent most of the third and fourth quarter on the offensive end and it showed on the scoreboard. It all started in the middle of the field and with Kareem (Johnson) and (Zach) Caton getting the ground balls after my faceoff pulls.”
DiGiacomo won 10 straight faceoffs to start the second half, reversing a first half where the Saints struggled to gain possession despite several solid pulls that just didn’t work out.
“Magnus (Gould) has done a great job there for us, but we’ve got to be able to react, it’s kind of a chess match facing off and sometimes he’s going to have the answer and sometimes he’s not,” Perriello said.
Controlling possession, as it usually does, gave the STAB offense a chance to get in rhythm. Four different Saints scored during the third quarter burst with Chris Woodfolk, George Marshall, Joe Robertson and Phillip Robertson (twice) carrying the load. Woodfolk and Marshall’s emergence gives the Saints’ incredibly dangerous offense an added dimension.
“We feel like the guys who are our role players are outstanding players in their own right,” Perriello said. “Sometimes they get lost in the shuffle when you’ve got some of the firepower we’ve got on attack. Christopher has had an absolutely outstanding year on and off the field as a leader, playing great defensive middie as well. George has just evolved into a really reliable guy for us game-in and game out. He’s also got a really hard shot and they complement our other guys really nicely.”
Phillip Robertson finished with five goals an assist to lead the way while Joe Robertson had a hat trick and two assists. Marshall and Woodfolk scored twice each, with Marshall adding an assist — he scored both his goals on with aggressive runs from the top of the formation. Jack Schultz had a goal and two assists. Connor Shellenberger finished with two assists to round out the bulk of the Saints’ offense. Patrick Blake made eight saves in the cage for the Saints. Kareem Johnson led STAB with six ground balls.
Like they’ve done much of the season, Woodberry Forest put together a strong first half against a tough opponent but couldn’t maintain that level of play. The Tigers managed to rebound from the rough third quarter to make a fourth quarter push, pulling within three goals at 11-8, but that lull in consistency was the difference in the game.
“We’ve proven we can play with the big dogs, we just have to do it consistently,” said Woodberry coach Spotty Robbins. “We lose a little bit of alertness there on defense, we get a little wide-eyed when things don’t go our way. It’s a matter of regrouping and staying consistent.”
Lee Cozart finished with a hat trick while Ford Beazley, Keen Griffin and Max Bozymski had two goals each. Ian Weinberg had a game-high nine ground balls.
Senior keeper Holden Fockler had a solid night in the cage, making several big saves in the first half in particular. He finished with 10 stops.
“He’s playing with a whole lot of confidence right now and he’s bailing us out over and over and over again,” Robbins said. “His mindset has been outstanding the last couple of weeks.”
Both squads are in position to make the VISAA Division I playoffs with a week left in the regular season.
