It was pretty appropriate that immediately after the final horn sounded, Woodberry close defenseman Tyler Houston picked up goalie Burgess Robinson, sprinted toward the sideline and got the celebration started.
The tandem spent the previous four quarters helping fuel a big-time 8-6 win for the Tigers, with Robinson locking things down in the cage with 20 saves while Houston held Norfolk Academy’s standout attackman Eric Gorsline to just a single goal. Those two performances were big parts of a sterling team defensive performance by the Tigers.
“I had a good warmup and saw every shot—and I got a lucky on a couple of them in close,” Robinson said. “And it was the best our defense has ever looked.”
Robinson indicated it was the first time Woodberry had knocked off Norfolk Academy since he arrived on campus three years ago.
Robinson rang up 12 saves in the first half alone, including a critical stop on one of the Bulldogs’ extra-man opportunities. Those saves helped Woodberry build a solid 6-2 halftime lead on the strength of James Malm and Griffin Burke’s two goals each before the break.
But the senior goalie got a lot of help from his defense, including Houston, who drew the task of handling Gorsline, a big, strong attackman and one of Norfolk Academy’s top finishers. Houston had a slight advantage, having marked Gorsline last year and having watched his older brother play opposite Gorsline two years ago.
“When I draw a big guy I’m happy — the little ones are the ones that bother me,” Houston said. “The big guys who try to get nasty, I can get nasty back.”
Earlier in the week, Gorsline poured in five goals against Nansemond-Suffolk Academy.
Six players finished with one goal each for Norfolk Academy as the Bulldogs had to move the ball all over the offense and work for everything they got. Each Woodberry defender seemed to come up with one big play during the win.
“They’re very sound defensively — they played all our guys tough,” said Norfolk Academy coach Tom Duquette.
The defense fed off an early offensive spurt that staked the Tigers to an early 5-2 lead. Burke finished the day with three goals and an assist while Malm had two goals and an assist. Hatcher Williams managed to chip in with a goal and two assists while also forcing several turnovers, including one that led to his goal. Ryan Lesko also had a crucial goal to put Woodberry up 5-2, and did battle on the faceoff with one of the state’s best, Norfolk Academy’s Carter Moore, all day.
