If a team waits until it’s too late to get tested, sometimes it can’t raise the bar quickly enough. Often, it can’t meet that challenge.
Western Albemarle’s field hockey squad doesn’t have to worry about that problem.
“To be honest, that might be the best team we play all season – it might not be but either way they’re very strong, they’re athletic,” said Western coach Milo Oakland. “They just got their stick on everything. They didn’t pop anything up unless they meant to. They just had great control of the ball.”
The Warriors went toe-to-toe Tuesday night with traditional hockey powerhouse James Monroe out of Fredericksburg and the Warriors fell 1-0 in a hard-fought season opener. The Yellow Jackets broke a scoreless deadlock with 3:20 left in the first half, when sophomore Lizzie Hamlett broke through to notch what would hold up as the gamewinner.
James Monroe dominated the possession for much of the first half, leaving Western’s defense to withstand a barrage of failed attacks. The Warriors’ defenders largely stood the test, with Hamlett finally finding the cage late on an unassisted try in the first half.
The second half included more chances for the Warriors offensively as Western seemed to slowly take their game up a few notches to try and match an intense, deliberate James Monroe team. While the Warriors couldn’t find an equalizer, the improvement was obvious.
“What I told them at the end of the game was that this was the best practice we’ve had all season,” Oakland said. “Of course we’re treating it like a game and we’re trying to win but the vast improvement we showed from the first five minutes to the last five minutes was more valuable than anything we’ve done in practice yet.”
Both team’s keepers were solid with Teagan Hicks notching three saves for James Monroe while Genevieve Repich finished with six stops for the Warriors.
Western lost several key offensive players to graduation, but the Warriors were extremely young last year and they’re looking to take the next step this season after Charlottesville knocked Western out of a region berth in a 1-0 nailbiter in the Conference 23 tournament semifinals last season.
“It was a great opportunity to learn what it takes game-in and game-out,” Oakland said. “We don’t like to lose but I think we’re able to find the silver lining in it.”
They’ve seen what it takes after hanging with James Monroe. The question now becomes can the Warriors meet the challenge?
