Albemarle’s girls lacrosse team has had a pretty, pretty good week. Just ask Jenn Wendelken.
“Oh, huge, huge,” Wendelken said. “Such a confidence booster.”
They wrapped up that confidence-building week with a 19-12 victory over Monticello Friday just days after beating another rival in Western Albemarle.
Against the Warriors, a lockdown defensive effort in the first half proved the difference, but against the Mustangs, it was an offensive explosion in the second half that blew open the game. Up just 12-11 with just under 15 minutes to play, Albemarle hit the gas and Monticello couldn’t get the ball in their stick to counterpunch. The Patriots reeled off six straight goals, winning five of six draw controls during that stretch thanks in part to Wendelken’s work on the draw.
“Jenn, that’s her craft, she can draw the ball to herself,” said Monticello coach Trent Holden. “We tried to mix a couple of things up but unfortunately in the game of lacrosse if you’re not winning the 50-50s — that’s what really hurt us.”
Wendelken’s height already made her a matchup problem on draws and a rule change implemented this season that limits the number of players who can jump in after the draw starts, effectively changing the draw from a 5-on-5 situation in the past to a 3-on-3 scenario. That gives Wendelken more time and space to work and the chance to draw it to herself more often.
“I personally really like it because you have more space and you can control where the ball goes typically,” Wendelken said. “Then you have more space to follow through and get the ball for yourself or aim toward a certain player.”
Once she grabs that draw, the Patriots’ balanced offense goes to work and it was hitting on all cylinders against the Mustangs. Kelsey Myers and Morgan Rose poured in four goals each while Wendelken finished with a hat trick. Rose also had two assists and Anna Murray checked in with two goals and four assists. Erin Keller had two goals and two assists and Cam Edson had a pair of goals. Caroline Littman had a goal and assist. That’s six different players with multiple goals — when the Patriots’ move the ball and particularly when they attack on the fastbreak, they’re tough to stop. They showed that during the 6-0 run
“I feel like we were just really determined to take it up a notch,” Wendelken said. “Once we got one, two, three they just kept going and momentum really helped us there.”
Monticello’s offense proved capable of hanging with the Patriots for the bulk of the game, jumping out to a 3-1 lead before it became a back-and-forth battle. Caleigh Smith played a big role in that effort, scoring five goals and notching an assist. The freshman midfielder wasn’t rattled by playing an archrival under the lights.
“It was awesome — you always worry about your freshmen on big stages like this that the pressure will get to them but she really stepped up,” Holden said. “We’ve been hounding them in practice about faking shots, and that’s Caleigh’s bread and butter, faking and putting the ball past the goalie.”
As usual, Paige McGlothlin also got into the mix offensively for the Mustangs with a hat trick and two assists. Meghan Walin and Josie Mallory each had two goals while Sophia Shepherd had an assist.
Despite that offensive performance by Monticello, Caroline Sheppard stepped up in critical stretches for the Patriots, making 11 saves while holding Monticello to just five goals in the second half. The Mustangs’ keeper Carly Harris finished with 10 saves.
The Patriots will look to build on their momentum when they host Douglas Freeman Tuesday, a squad they eliminated in the region semifinals in overtime last season. Monticello will look to rebound Monday on the road against Culpeper.
