By John Shifflett/Scrimmageplaycva.com contributor
Revenge is sweet. Getting a district tournament title to go along with it is even sweeter.
The Western Albemarle boys lacrosse team used timely goals and stingy defense to take down E.C. Glass 13-6 in the Jefferson District Tournament championship game at Charlottesville High School, avenging the Warriors’ only loss in district play this season.
“We really wanted to come back and get another shot at them,” said Western Albemarle coach Brad Haws, whose team fell 7-6 to the Hilltoppers earlier this season in Lynchburg. “We felt like we didn’t play our best against them down there. Winning against them is big.”
The Warriors (12-2) made the most of their second chance against E.C. Glass, outshooting the Hilltoppers 39-16. When E.C. Glass did manage an offensive possession, the Western defense constantly harassed the Hilltoppers’ attack into countless turnovers and a slew of poor shots. The Warriors also were able to neutralize five man-down situations with incident.
“A lot of the goals they scored came in unsettled situations,” Haws said. “When we are set on defense, we are pretty hard to score on.”
The offense wasn’t too shabby, either. Senior attackman Owen Wangensteen led Western with three goals and three assists while midfielders Christophe Drapanas and Tyler Ward added three goals apiece.
With the game tied 2-2 after the first quarter, Western began taking control in the second quarter, outscoring E.C. Glass 4-1 in the frame to take a 6-3 lead at halftime. The Warriors blew things wide open in the third period, hitting the Hilltoppers with five unanswered goals. E.C. Glass tallied its lone goal of the period with 5.4 seconds left as Western took an insurmountable 11-4 lead into the fourth quarter.
“We have a little drill we run in practice called ‘Five minutes’ where the kids play really hard for five minutes, and I think it translates well into the game,” Haws said. “We told the guys ‘Let’s take away their drive and motivation,’ and I think we did that the first five minutes of the third quarter.”
Now the Warriors’ motivation turns to a first-round showdown with Briar Woods in the Region II tournament on Monday in Crozet. The Warriors, who lost to Broad Run in last season’s regional tournament, are hoping to avoid an early exit.
“Getting home field is big,” said Haws. “I just told the team ‘Let’s see if we can send Briar Woods back to D.C. with the same feeling we had (after losing to Broad Run) last year.’ ”
