Loaded with talent, but still trying to fit all those pieces together, Blue Ridge stumbled last Saturday against Christchurch.
After a tough series of practices, the Barons aren’t stumbling any more.
Blue Ridge cranked things to another level Wednesday, rolling to a 25-13 victory over Covenant, and it was no accident.
“We had a big week at practice,” said Blue Ridge coach Nic Bell. “It was a real emotional week, we kind of came after them and really challenged them in practice.”
Just a couple of weeks ago, Blue Ridge looked strong against Virginia Episcopal, but largely got things done via one-on-one runs. Against the Eagles, they moved the ball flawlessly on fastbreaks, fueling a balanced attack where five different players scored three or more goals.
“We’re great in transition—our three attackman can really move the ball and they can all shoot,” Bell said.
Matt Delmonico rang up 11 points on the day, pouring in seven goals while dishing out four assists, but the rest of the Barons didn’t just sit back and watch Delmonico work. The other two members of the Barons’ attack, Nick Hayes-Watts and Michael Carlini, finished with four goals each. Carlini had a pair of assists too.
Zak Folks picked up four goals while Chris Delaney had two goals and five assists and Khalif Danby had a hat trick. Andrew Pochter rounded out the scoring for the Barons with a goal. Blue Ridge finally took the pedal off the floor with just over five minutes left in the contest.
The Barons buried more than 50 percent of their shots, scoring on 25 of their 46 attempts, and put nearly everything on goal as Covenant goalie Chris Luck managed 11 saves.
Delaney controlled the face-off well, which took the pressure off Blue Ridge’s defense, but when he had to be, goalie Andrew Wilson was up to the task, coming up with 11 saves.
Covenant managed to keep things close early in the high-scoring battle, closing an 8-4 gap down to 8-6 before Blue Ridge started pulling away. Covenant got two goals each from Alex Keuhler and Benji Colberg during the first half, and that tandem finished with seven goals on the day, with Colberg scoring four and Keuhler notching three goals.
“Alex was hurt the second game of our season and really didn’t have many reps in our (top offensive unit),” said Covenant coach Rich Little. “He’s come back strong, he’s a really good leader and he has a real nose for the goal.”
While Tav Hafner also bolstered the Eagles offense with a hat trick and Miles Davis had a goal and two assists, Covenant’s defense struggled against the lightning quick Barons, particularly in the transition game. The Eagles rely on a number of young long poles, and the unit struggled at times to slide and rotate properly, but they should get better and better as the year goes along.
“We’re just trying to get them to be really confident in different packages,” Little said. “But a lot of that just comes right down to experience. A lot of those guys just need to get team, game-oriented experience before they can get better.”
Little, formerly a coach at Virginia Episcopal, coached against Bell while Bell was a player at the Highland School.
Blue Ridge takes a short break before returning to action Tuesday on the road against North Cross while Covenant travels to Fork Union Thursday at 4 p.m.
