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The Top 10 Campaigns of 2013-2014

In our final countdown we look at the campaigns, the runs, the teams that did something special. Maybe it was a remarkable regular season run or coranation at the end of the season. It’s all about the whole season in this countdown, from beginning to end.

No. 1 — Woodberry Forest football goes 9-1, finishes in national rankings

It’s a simple fact that strong seasons have become the expectation at Woodberry Forest over the last half decade, but 2013 was a particularly impressive bit of football by the Tigers as they overcame an injury to their starting quarterback and still closed the year on a seven-game win streak.

The Tigers put together an 8-1 season with the lone blemish coming against eventual VISAA Division I state champion Liberty Christian Academy down in Lynchburg in a close battle.

After the LCA loss, Woodberry promptly blew out Paul VI and Flint Hill in their next two games, then beat Collegiate (led by Michigan freshman quarterback Wilton Speight) and blew out their final four opponents including a 51-10 win over Fork Union and a 56-13 win in their rivalry clash with Episcopal. In the first part of that stretch, they won despite starting quarterback Hunter Etheridge being out with injury and playing true freshman Lindell Stone.

Every week a different face stepped up for the Tigers and helped push them to an incredible campaign that netted them a No. 12 overall state ranking among public and private state schools in MaxPreps’ Freeman rankings.

No. 2 — Western boys soccer goes unbeaten, wins state title

Any time a team runs the gauntlet they are going to have tests, moments of adversity. Winning a state title on penalty kicks is about as high up on the chain of adversity as you can get. But just to make matters more entertaining, Western’s Albemarle’s and the state’s all-time leading scorer missed a PK in extra time against Blacksburg. It took seven PKs and a crucial save from Al Luna to determine a winner. But the Warriors got it done. 

Up until that point though, Western cruised through a largely drama free season. A challenge on the road against Albemarle and late season meeting with Charlottesville was really all the Warriors saw as far as regular season hurdles. It wasn’t until Western ran into Blacksburg in the Region 3A West finals that things really cranked up. In fact, of the eight playoff games that Western won, only two weren’t run away beatings — the meetings with Blacksburg. 

Despite playing and getting used to the front runner role, the Warriors handled their two big fights with the Bruins and earned their first state title in the sport since 1996 after countless years of heartbreak. This year, they broke the hearts. 

No. 3 — Albemarle boys lacrosse wins its first state title in OT

Albemarle looked like a team poised for big things headed into the postseason. They had one loss to their name. But that said, they looked very similar last year and saw their season come crashing much sooner than they had anticipated. That was hardly the storyline this go around.

The Patriots made quick work of the postseason up until the state title game. While they had Western Albemarle mount a late comeback in the South Zone title game, and Loudoun Valley do the same in the Division 5A semifinals, they held serve and things were never truly out of control. But in the state final the Patriots were in a hole against Loudoun County and they were playing the game that got them there — make sure Matt Crist gets the ball and shoots whenever possible. It was almost insane on how hell bent the Patriots were, but it got them out of a late 2-goal deficit in the fourth quarter. Then in the last seconds of overtime Kevin Bernardino stepped up with the biggest goal of his career.

Albemarle had never been to the state finals before despite its success for so long in the sport. That they won in such dramatic fashion will likely make this state title more special than any other the program might produce down the road.

No 4. — Albemarle girls soccer dominant regular season

There was one unfortunate stain on the Albemarle girls soccer team’s record — its 1-0 loss to mighty Tuscarora in the Region 5A North quarterfinal. But as we explained in the preface of the countdown, a truly great campaign isn’t always defined by just one playoff loss.

The bottom line was that there was no team better in girls soccer than Albemarle was this year, pound-for-pound, on any given day. They arguably had the most impressive regular season of any team, and definitely of any Jefferson District team in any sport, and certainly of any Albemarle squad year wide, dispatching each opponent with ease. The Patriots were never challenged in the JD, and looking back how Western Albemarle came one win away from earning a state bid at the Division 3A level, it should be noted that Albemarle swept their cross county rival in the two meetings between the two. Albemarle rolled through the Conference 16 playoffs. 

The Patriots were balanced on offense, defense and put together one of the best seasons they’ve had and under first year coach Amy Sherrill.  Its loss to Tuscarora is a blemish, but it should not overshadow just how dominant this team was from March until June.

No. 5 — Buckingham football’s final four run

Sometimes it’s not just what goes on on the field that makes a season incredible.

Though, what Buckingham’s football did on the field was more than enough to warrant a spot on this anyway. The Knights underwent some personnel shifting, including putting Leon Ragland at quarterback and freeing John Edwards up to emerge as a dominant defensive stopper, and advanced all the way to the state semifinals where they fell to Brunswick.

But the fact that head coach Craig Gill was undergoing treatment for advanced cancer during the span where his team was putting together its deepest playoff run makes it that much more special.

The year that the Knights had, including a fantastic win over Dan River, won’t be forgotten in Dillwyn for years, maybe even decades.

No. 6 — Western Albemarle girls win tennis state title

From wire-to-wire, Western Albemarle’s girls tennis team vanquished opponent after opponent in dominant fashion.

In fact, the Warriors didn’t even need doubles to close out a state championship that capped a 24-0 run for Western. With Maddy Ix and Emily Kochard taking care of business at the top two spots on the ladder, Western had a huge advantage out of the gate against most any opponent. Throw in steady performers like Lauren Kearns, Stephanie Barton, Maggie Roesch and Savannah Diamond rounding out the singles lineup and it’s clear this was one of the most dominant line-ups in local girls tennis in some time.

They also stayed focused throughout the run, never straying from the goal of winning a state title and playing as well as they possibly could along the way.

No. 7 — Madison County baseball’s final four run

Madison County may have only floated around .500 during the regular season which buried them as the lowest seed in their conference tournament, but it was against a challenging schedule that included multiple games against teams in higher divisions. Head coach David Londrey analyzed that run and decided then and there he wasn’t going to change things up in the postseason.

Madison’s commitment paid off with an historic underdog run as they advanced all the way to the state semifinals while upending a couple of state title contenders along the way. The Mountaineers’ playoff run made for one of the most incredible seasons in recent memory, and it was all because they stuck with the plan and stayed married to the process.

No. 8 — Miller girls basketball wins D2 state title

The first big shot across the bow came in December. When Miller avenged its loss the previous year to Spotswood in the Daily Progress/NBC 29 Holiday Classic with a 47-34 victory, the word was out. The Trailblazers are and have been the team to beat in the public ranks. The Mavericks did that, but it was December. 

Back in the private school ranks, Miller held serve but a loss at Williamsburg Chistian stood out in late January. The Mavericks were going to have to through that program at some point to win a state title. With an 11-game win streak, James Braxton’s program did just that. By winning the VIC title with a narrow defeat of D1 opponent LCA in the VIC championship, Miller put itself in the driver’s seat. Then wins over Norfolk Collegiate, NSA and finally Williamsburg Christian gave the school its first state title in three years.

That state championship game wasn’t easy. It took three straight turnovers and great free throw shooting to get the job done, but the Mavericks did just that. It gave Miller its first Division 2 title and it’s fifth overall since 2005. 

No. 9 — STAB girls soccer wins D1 state title

It was clear that St. Anne’s-Belfield and St. Catherine’s had unfinished business. They played to a tie in the regular season. The Saints suffered a rare loss, their first of the year, in the LIS championship game at the hands of their future state final opponent. 

STAB cruised through the regular season, and by cruise we mean didn’t give up but two goals. It’s defense was on lock, it’s offense opportunistic. To get a third meeting with St. Cat’s the Saints had to get past a third contender for the title, Cape Henry Collegiate. They did so to set up the title bout with the number one team in the state.

Trailing 1-0 at the half, STAB rallied to take a 2-1 lead only to see St. Catherine come alive in the last moments of the game to force overtime. But in OT, Haley Kent took a sudden outside shot so crisply, so clean that nothing could be done about it. It gave St. Anne’s a 3-2 lead and one they’d hold.

This was a truly a remarkable defensive run from March through May. STAB’s defense was unreal, but its resilience in the last game of the year was even better. 

No 10 — Covenant boys lacross wins D2 state title

There’s only one way to feel better about coming up short in the state title game the year prior and that’s to fix it the next season. By all counts, the Eagles looked poised to win the 2013 Division 2 title. That didn’t happen. But redemption did.

With wins over LCA, North Cross and Blue Ridge in the VIC tournament, the Eagles went into the state tournament red hot. It wasn’t until the state final that Covenant saw any resistence. 21-10 and 13-4 wins over Trinity at Meadow View and Trinity Christian respectively put the Eagles back in the state finals for the second straight year.

In that state final, the team that opened up at No.1 in the VISAA rankings finished the job against Nansemond Suffolk. Trailing 9-8 in the third, Covenant got the surge it needed to take 12-9 lead thanks to Wins Marks and Drew Gaffney. The Eagles held on and won their first state title since 2009 and made up for the one that got away in 2013.  

Honorable Mentions

Western Albemarle baseball

Western Albemarle girls swimming

STAB girls basketball

Louisa softball

William Monroe girls soccer

Covenant boys soccer

Orange County field hockey

Western Albemarle football

Monticello football

STAB football

Albemarle boys soccer

William Monroe boys soccer

Albemarle girls swimming

 

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