It took Woodbridge a little longer than expected to reach Albemarle High — the Vikings arrived on campus just minutes after the appointed start time.
After what they absorbed from Albemarle when the game finally started, several Woodbridge players probably wished they hadn’t ever gotten there.
Albemarle exploded for a 30-3 victory over Woodbridge in the Northwest Region quarterfinals Monday. Now the Patriots will play for the right to go to the state tournament in the Northwest semifinals later this week.
When Ben Kyriacopoulos hit Michael Bernardino on the crease only 48 seconds into the game, it set off the highest scoring output by an Albemarle team in years. The Patriots offense scored 13 goals in the first quarter alone. Kyriacopoulos had four goals and three assists in the opening stanza.
Of the 30 goals that Albemarle scored, 18 were assisted, and 12 different Patriot players either scored a goal or dished out at least 1 assist for the evening.
“We played very unselfish ball tonight,” said Albemarle coach Pat McAdams. “We started the night with intensity, and had creativity in our offense with a lot of off-ball cuts.”
Particularly impressive on the evening was Kyriacopoulos, the junior attackman who registered 10 goals and 3 assists. The 13 total points is possibly a school record for one game, according to McAdams.
“I just picked up a lot of ground balls and was able to get some of them in the goal,” said Kyriacopoulos. “I’ve been going 100 percent the past few practices working to get in the right place at the right time. I think I was just shooting smarter tonight.”
Other offensive contributors with multiple points were Michael Bernardino with five goals, Ryan McCullough with two goals and an assist, Steve Mastropaolo with three goals and four assists, and Matt Crist with three goals and five assists. Also, David Seago had one goal and two assists, and Ethan Stowe and Nick Pegg each had two goals. In addition, Tyler Johnson had two assists.
Albemarle now advances to the regional semifinals to play the winner of the Stonewall Jackson-Patrick Henry (Roanoke) game. If Stonewall defeats Patrick Henry, then Albemarle would host the game on Wednesday night. Should Patrick Henry win, Albemarle will have to travel to Roanoke.
