A number of St. Anne’s-Belfield’s boys lacrosse squad’s younger players garner a lot of attention and rightfully so, they’re a talented, dynamic group.
But Friday afternoon a pair of seniors — Nevin Masri and Grant Schultz — and a seasoned group of defenders stepped up in a huge way for the No. 3-ranked Saints. Masri and Schultz scored the final three goals of a 7-6 overtime victory over No. 7 Woodberry Forest in a defensive struggle between two of the state’s top 10 squads in VISAA D1.
“All the seniors were just going to take over the game we just knew we had to do it,” Masri said.
The Tigers took control of the game with a 6-4 lead off a Pat Shea goal and a Todd Fedyck tally in the fourth quarter in what amounted to a huge run in a nip and tuck defensive battle.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them,” said Woodberry coach Brian Hemming. “You look at our sidelines from the get-go to the last one, they’re positive, they’re encouraging and they’re excited to be here and be a part of something cool. The fans here today saw two of the best teams in the state of Virginia playing.”
But STAB refused to go away. Masri buried a leaping shot from the right side of the cage to pull the Saints within one. After a couple of fruitless possessions on both sides, STAB got the ball back but struggled to get into a rhythm offensively, prompting the Saints to take a timeout, but STAB still couldn’t get anything out of their offensive set right out of the timeout.
“We were going to have me up at the top and it didn’t really work, but we play better out of the hecticness anyway,” Masri said. “We love the chaos. We thrive in the chaos.”
Masri certainly thrived in the moment, unleashing a shot with 19 seconds left to tie the game up.
“Nevin is one of those guys who’s underappreciated — as a junior he played some defensive middie for us and a lot of role type minutes,” said STAB coach Bo Perriello. “To emerge this year as a real force in the midfield and becoming and a better and better offensive player he’s just a kid we wear out over the course of the game playing defense and offense.”
Woodberry managed to gain possession after the Masri goal, but couldn’t connect on their own play that appeared to open up perfectly. Instead a pass across the middle skidded toward the sideline and out of bounds, sending the game to overtime.
In overtime, Grant Schultz rose to the occasion, attacking from goalline extended on the right side. Seemingly everyone on the field though Schultz, a lefthander, would try and get top side, but Schultz took what the Woodberry defense gave him.
“(My defender) played my strong hand so I thought if I went underneath and went a close interior shot and get a high percentage maybe I could have a little success and it went the right way,” Schultz said.
Schultz attacked showing left, then put the stick in his right hand and sprinted toward the cage. As the slide came, he spun back toward the crease and found himself at point blank range with the stick back in his left hand. He scored and the celebration started for the Saints. Phillip and Joe Robertson had a goal and assist each for the Saints while Scott Cathcart and Brodie Phillips each also had goals. Austin Park and Rob Schotta had five and four ground balls a piece to lead the Saints in that department.
STAB’s defense may have biggest the beneficiary of the win as they rebounded well from a 13-12 loss to Norfolk Academy last weekend where they surrendered more goals than the stingy unit has been used to giving up. Holding a dynamic, speedy Woodberry unit to six goals and closing the door down the stretch was huge for the Saints. Longstick defenders Sam Lorenzo, Rob Schotta, Clayton Hanson and Lee Parkhill were particularly strong as keeper Eric Buhle only had to make five saves in the win.
“Honestly it was great to see because our worst performance was down at the beach where we gave up 13 goals for the first time in a long time after really the defense being our foundational piece this year,” Perriello said. “I felt like our guys lost some of their confidence down there so it was great to get it back today.”
Woodberry let the potentially huge road victory slip through their fingers, but continued to prove what a complete coin flip Division I seems to be this season, with a slew of teams that could win on any given day. Earlier in the year, the Tigers beat Norfolk Academy, who recently beat STAB, 11-6.
“Some of those teams that are kind of a little bit behind us are good too,” Hemming said. “You’re looking at good teams, good athletes, talented players who are well-coached. In the state of Virginia right now it’s anybody’s game.”
The Saints get nearly a week-long break before locking up at home with another top notch Division I and Prep League opponent, Collegiate. The Tigers will try and bounce back at home against Benedictine Tuesday before a big test with St. Christopher’s on the road Thursday.
