St. Anne’s-Belfield coach Mary Blake, like many girls lacrosse coaches, preaches dominance on draw controls and ground balls.
On Saturday, however, her STAB squad was able to overcome a rough first half on the draw and piece together a third-straight VISAA Division II championship with a 19-6 win over Cape Henry Collegiate.
It didn’t hurt that Addi Bolin, STAB’s most dynamic player, saved perhaps her most dynamic performance for her final outing as a Saint.
Bolin single-handedly outscored Cape Henry when she poured in nine goals and dished out four assists for a 13-point day that paved the way for the Saints. Her dominance on attack helped offset Cape Henry’s 10-3 advantage on draw controls before the break as STAB managed to hold build a 8-5 lead at the half.
Sophomore Catherine Towers also helped erase the draw disparity in the cage with 14 saves, dominating the second half in particular by allowing just a single goal. That score came on a fluky play where Towers was called for a foul and placed behind a Cape Henry attacker on the ensuing eight-meter shot, leaving an open cage for an uncontested goal.
While Bolin’s offensive performance led the way, STAB wasn’t lacking for offensive heroes. Lila Satterfield notched four goals while Trent Holden had a hat trick and an assist. Kate McCullough set the table well for her teammates with four assists to go with her two goals.
Corrina Coffin rounded out the scoring with a single goal, but her biggest contribution came in the second half when she helped erase the draw control advantage with five controls of her own.
STAB pieced together a four-goal burst in the opening minutes of the second half that quickly created a lot of separation between the two finalists.
While STAB wrapped up its third straight title, the cupboard is far from bare. The departure of Bolin, McCullough and the rest of a deep senior class will be felt, but Towers’ presence in the cage and the contributions of several young players including eighth grader Julia Haney give STAB reason to believe this might by a three-peat, but it might not be the last in a string of championships.
