It’s hard to prove these sorts of claims, but Albemarle’s Stephen Mastropolo may very well be the biggest attackman in the state of Virginia.
At 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, it’s a pretty good bet he’s at the top of the list.
Wednesday afternoon, Mastropolo used that size to pour in four goals in Albemarle’s 13-1 win over North Stafford High. Mastropolo keyed a balanced Albemarle attack that controlled the Wolverines form the opening faceoff.
“Most of the time we try to (isolate) whoever has a weaker defenseman, but we haven’t seen a lot of defensemen who are as big as me,” Mastropolo said. “So I try to play him out and have the advantage and then I can roll back and seal him around and he can’t get in front of me.”
Mastropolo’s continued development — and his ability to put that size to good use — has played a big role in the Patriots’ development. The big attackman was a defender just two years ago, but his skill-set allowed Albemarle coach Pat McAdams to move him and in turn create a unique offensive weapon that gave North Stafford’s outsized defenders trouble.
“It’s a new look for us but Steve is improving every day in practice,” McAdams said. “His work ethic and commitment to the game is evident. It helped us out tonight, he took a lot of abuse.”
Mastropolo also pointed to his fellow attackmen, who’ve given him a lot of support in the move. The emergence of Matt Crist, the brother of former Albemarle standout Billy Crist (now playing at Christopher Newport), has helped the Patriots overcome the loss of prolific scorer John Chandler to injury.
“It’s like having a smaller Billy out there and then Ben (Kyriacopoulos) is just as good as anyone out there too,” Mastropolo said. “We’re just a tight unit.”
Crist finished with a pair of goals while Tyler Johnson also checked in with two on the day.
It didn’t hurt that Ryan Carlisle, who’s winning about 70 percent of his faceoffs on the year, dominated at the X against the Wolverines. Albemarle’s defense also locked down North Stafford, holding the Wolverines to just four shots on goal, with Jake Huber and Christian Marquez combining for three saves in the cage.
“He did a good job and he typically does — he’s a great faceoff guy,” McAdams said.
Albemarle takes on cross-county rival Western Albemarle Friday night in an out-of-district tilt at 7 p.m. at home.
