Thursday, May 26, 2011
Albermale snags boys lacrosse win over Patrick Henry
The visitors control all five faceoffs and rally for four straight goals in the decisive final period.
varsity.roanoke.com
Timesland on Twitter
The only guarantee in the Northwestern Region lacrosse semifinal between Albemarle County and Patrick Henry was that a Patriot was going to the state tournament.
Both teams fought hard in a contest that featured a combined 22 penalties, but in the end it was Albemarle's Patriots who used four straight goals midway through the fourth period to claim berths in the region final and state tournament with a 12-10 victory over Patrick Henry on Wednesday.
Albemarle (18-0) faces the winner of the Osbourn Park and Battlefield contest for the region championship, while PH plays the loser of that game on the road in another shot to qualify for the state playoffs.
"We committed a lot of turnovers and a lot of unforced errors, and you can't beat a good team with that many mistakes," Patrick Henry coach Josh Wilkinson said.
Patrick Henry (14-3), which had gotten off to a quick start in its last two games, fell behind early as Albemarle's 6-0 first-quarter faceoff advantage kept the visitors in possession most of the first stanza.
"We definitely won some critical faceoffs," Albemarle coach Patrick McAdams said. "This was a tough, tough game. They are an athletic and good defensive team, and it was a difficult game to win. But give our guys credit: They play hard."
Junior Ryan McCollough scored two of his four goals in the first period as Albemarle led 4-2 after one.
"We have passed the ball well all season," McCollough said. "We were able to move the ball around the defense and get some good looks."
Patrick Henry withstood Albemarle's early onslaught with some big saves from junior Minor Smith. He made seven of his 18 saves in the first period.
"They are a tough scoring offense," Smith said. "We were making some stops but kept giving the ball away and giving them more chances, and against a good team, they are going [to score] some goals."
Patrick Henry mounted a comeback to take the lead after three periods. Brock Plantinga, Herman Pfafel and Will Douthat each tallied two goals as PH rallied to grab a 9-8 lead heading into the final period.
"We played terrible in the first but bounced back strong," said Douthat, who had five total goals on the evening to run his season total to 73.
"They definitely killed us on faceoffs -- we had them, we just beat ourselves in the fourth quarter."
In the final frame, Albemarle scored four goals in six minutes to build a 12-9 lead, while holding a 5-0 faceoff advantage to finish the night with a 17-3 spread in that category.
"We got one game left to determine if we are going to play more after Memorial Day or not," Wilkinson said.
"If we win, we get to keep playing, so we've got to get it done."
Albemarle County 4 3 1 4 -- 12
Patrick Henry 2 4 3 1 -- 10
Albemarle goals -- Kyriacopoulos 3, McCollough 4, Bernardino 2, Chandler, Crist 2. Assists -- Kyriacopoulos, Bernardino, Crist, Huber, Johnson.
Patrick Henry goals -- Douthat 5, Plantinga 2, Pfafel 2, Doughton. Assists -- Pfafel 2, Plantinga, Douthat, Adams.
Saves -- Albemarle 8, Patrick Henry 18.
Penalties -- Albemarle 10 Patrick Henry 12
Faceoffs -- Albemarle 17-3
