Albemarle coach Dave King has been looking forward to a game like this for Connor Warner to truly breakout. With five goals in regulation, Warner rose to the occasion. But his goal in double overtime to give the Patriots an 11-10 win over rival Western Albemarle put an extra-wide smile on King’s face.
“He banked one in to win and it’s like I’ve been telling some people, he’s been really close to having a big game,” King said. “But he hadn’t one like this. He just fits the mold of the other guys. He’s tough, been hurt all week, but ground it out for us.”
It was a nervous sweat for both sides late in the fourth and through the first overtime until Warner struck late in the second. The Patriots and Warriors each came up with defensive stops and turnovers as the offenses seemed to walk on eggshells a bit, looking for an opportunity.
“At 10-10 going into overtime, it was just anyone’s game,” said Western coach Alex Whitten. “It was kind of sloppy on both ends but there were also some big saves on our end, big saves on their end and then it ends on a deflection. That’s a bummer for us, but it is what it is.”
With the game locked at 5-5 heading into halftime, the Patriots took a methodical 8-5 lead slowly but surely in the third quarter, to put the Warriors in a substantial hole. But with a 4-0 run that stretched from the third into the the first minute and a half of the fourth, Western had its first lead of the game at 9-8 with John Haden Carr leading the way.
“For us, when we play at a high rate of speed and handle the ball we’re really capable of doing a lot of good stuff,” Whitten said. “But we get better because of games like this, whenever we’re playing Albemarle.”
And then things got crazy. Albemarle tied things up with 2:18 on a goal from Forrest Warner. Then the Warriors just missed a go-ahead goal with seconds remaining only to watch the Patriots have the same things happen to them with the clock expiring. And so it was off to overtime.
The hero in the first overtime was Western keeper Ben Kunel as he made a pair of saves on a pair of quality opportunities for Albemarle. That launched things into the second overtime where turnovers became the story with the Warriors coming up with one midway through the period and then the Patriots answering right back and then drawing a penalty shortly thereafter.
Coming out of a timeout, that set up Connor Warner’s big moment as his shot from outside took a fortuitous bounce and found the top shelf of the net.
“We just kept our heads in it and did the little things,” Warner said. “You just have to keep going and finish strong.”
On the night, in addition to Warner’s six goals, the Patriots were paced by Samuel Mallow’s two goals and three assists. Silas Beers had two goals and two assists. Forrest Warner had a goal and two assists. Ryan Richardson had 12 saves in net.
For Western, Haden had a huge game too with five goals and two assists. Luke Scavola finished with two goals. Max Miller, AJ Donovan and Jame Beutow all had a goal as well. Kunel finished with eight saves.
