It didn’t take Albemarle long to get into gear Monday night in the Commonwealth District semifinals, even without head coach Pat McAdams in the mix.
The Patriots made short work of the Eagles with a balanced offense that held possession most of the way in the 15-3 victory, led by a heavy dose of Ben Kyriacopoulos, Matt Crist and Ryan McCollough. Kyriacopoulos, a dynamic attackman with a knack for finishing around the cage rang up a hat trick, finishing off a pair of Matt Crist feeds.
“Ben’s been stepping up throughout the year,” said Albemarle goalie Jake Huber. “He got pulled up last year and he’s just made a heck of a difference on the team.”
Crist dished out four assists on the night and scored twice himself as the freshman continues to become the squad’s triggerman, setting the table for his more experienced line mates, Kyriacopoulos and Stephen Mastropaolo who had one goal for the Patriots against Colonial Forge.
McColough registered a hat trick of his own with three goals, including an absolute laser in the second quarter that put the Patriots up 6-0. He followed that one shortly thereafter with a finish on a Crist pass. McCollough also had an assist.
Michael Bernardino book-ended the game with his two goals, scoring the opener unassisted and then the final tally to put Albemarle up 12.
Huber came up with 11 saves on the night for the Patriots, with some solid support from a young but continually improving defense.
“We always rise to the occasion but offense possessed the ball really well, there’s not much more you can ask for,” Huber said. “We’re a young defense, we only have one senior (Eric Reigle), but we’ve been doing really well.”
McAdams, who had an unavoidable conflict on the unusual night for a Commonwealth lacrosse game left the coaching to brother Mike McAdams and fellow assistant Daniel Martin. They handled the job well as Albemarle methodically took apart Colonial Forge on both ends of the field.
Albemarle will battle North Stafford for the Commonwealth title Wednesday night after North Stafford edged Brooke Point 6-5.
