Western Albemarle girls lacrosse has been searching for a signature win. The Warriors have been awfully good this year, but there was just a little something missing from their resume.
They got that win Tuesday night, edging a Monticello squad that hadn’t lost since March 10-9 in sudden death overtime. The win puts the Warriors in the driver’s seat for a Jefferson District title with just a few games to play.
“This was such a team effort and it’s really good to get the win on our home turf especially me being a senior it’s really special,” said Western’s Reid Ferguson.
Ferguson provided the game-winner, finishing off a feed from Libby Carbo after the Western defense lost the draw on an infraction to start the period. Elizabeth Kelly subsequently managed to snag a turnover on the first possession of overtime and transition it upfield quickly to give the Warriors a chance.
“We have our play yo-yo that’s really consistent so we knew our options and coach told me it was my option but we all got in our play and when she threw the pass I knew I had to catch it and put it in the back of the net,” Ferguson said.
Mattie Shearer finished with a hat trick and two assists for the Warriors while Mallory Green also scored three goals and Carbo had a goal and four assists. Anna Kreienbaum had a goal and an assist.
The Mustangs clawed their way back into the game late with two straight Meghan Walin goals in the final five minutes, including Walin’s equalizer with 46.8 seconds to play. That was Walin’s fourth goal of the game and it helped force overtime after both sides’ defense stepped up during a back-and-forth stretch in the closing seconds.The Mustangs started the game on a 3-0 run that lasted until the 10:50 mark in the first half and then had an apparent goal waved off at a critical juncture midway through the second half.
The Mustangs’ Josie Mallory finished with four goals on the night while Caleigh Smith had a goal and two assists.
Western, which came unraveled late in the first meeting between that two squads that Monticello won, didn’t come undone after a series of calls didn’t go their way in the closing minutes. It was a key step in the right direction for a squad with a lot of young players in key roles.
“Mental toughness — we’ve been working on things we can’t control and we can’t control the refs,” Ferguson said. “We have to have a reaction and be positive after every call.”
That development has been deliberate for the Warriors.
“We’ve worked on it throughout the season — you can’t control what the refs are going to do and you just channel it and do something positive with it,” said Western coach Dana Boyle. “We’ve tried to hone in on that and make something positive out of a negative and I’m really proud of them.”
Statistically the game was as even as most clashes between the Mustangs and Warriors are, with Western holding a slight advantage on shots (27-23) and draw controls (12-9) while the Mustangs led in ground balls 19-17. Both keepers posted nine saves and both squads committed 13 turnovers.
There’s a decent chance this will not be the last meeting between the Mustangs and Warriors, who could square off in the region tournament and then again in the state tournament if both squads can keep winning.
“I think we needed to win today — we’ll play Monticello again and it’s just a constant battle between two really good teams,” Boyle said. “For us, knowing we can do this, knowing what it feels like to win, knowing we can win close games will be good.”
