The ball started rolling toward Stephen Mastropolo and Albemarle’s big attackman corralled it near midfield, spun and found himself sprinting toward Western Albemarle’s goal.
More importantly though, Albemarle junior attackman Ben Kyriacopoulos had already taken off down the middle of the field as Mastropolo started fighting for the ball.
“I just saw it coming and coach told us never go for the ball first, check the defenseman,” Mastropolo said. “I just checked him, scooped around and then went over him with a sort of swim move. Then I saw Ben.”
Mastropolo flicked the ball to Kyriacopoulos, who buried the ensuing shot and gave the Patriots a 4-3 advantage over the Warriors that turned into a one-goal escape for Albemarle in the latest installment of a solid rivalry.
“(Western) possessed the ball and played a smart game,” said Albemarle coach Pat McAdams. “(The Warriors) really played their tails off tonight.”
Turnovers plagued both offenses, with Albemarle’s hamstringing what had, of late, been a dynamic group that was coming off a 13-goal output against North Stafford. The Patriots, when not turning the ball over, managed to challenge Western junior keeper Ben Carew during the contest, and Carew finished with nine saves.
“The initial turnover, on a clear, was the simplest play we can make, the guy was wideopen” McAdams said. “We threw a lot of balls away.”
At the half, the game was deadlocked at 2-2 with Western’s Abbot Wallenborn tying the game right at the end of second quarter on the Warriors’ second goal. Western took a 3-2 lead on another Wallenborn goal in the early fourth quarter, but Albemarle answered on an unsettled situation when Matt Crist scored off a loose ball.
That set the stage for Albemarle to steal a game from Western, a squad that’s been struggling coming into the Friday night matchup.
“We’ve been struggling a little bit in our last games and we wanted to set it right,” Haws said. “We actually switched, I started coaching the offense and (assistant coach Scott) Winterton just to see if we could bring some new eyes and some new intensity and the guys stepped up.”
Kenny Gaspa scored Western’s first goal while Mastropolo and Tyler Johnson rounded out Albemarle’s scoring.
Albemarle travels to Mountain View Thursday while the Warriors battle Woodberry Forest Tuesday.
