On Friday evening, the Western Albemarle girls lacrosse team rolled past Monticello 20-3 to pick up a critical Jefferson District win.
Coming into the matchup, Western had been red-hot, and had won its last three games in the district. The Warriors built on that hot streak against the Mustangs who just a year ago were in the Class 4A state tournament.
From the jump, you could tell that the Warriors had the upper hand. Western won the opening draw, went down the field, and immediately scored a goal on the first possession. The Warriors proceeded to repeat that process on the next four consecutive possessions and build a 5-0 lead.
“We’ve been playing great as a team, and today was some of the same thing,” said Western coach John Warner. “We’re winning at all aspects of the game, we’re winning draws, our attack is good, our defense has been a lot better, and we had a great game from our keeper today.”
Junior goalkeeper Kennedy Buntrock had several impressive saves, which was devastatingly limiting at the moments when Monticello attempted to concentrate their rallies. Buntrock wasn’t alone in her efforts toward the victory however. Maggie Craytor and Reeve Goldstein both each scored five goals, Sophie Lanahan dished out a ridiculous 10 assists, and Gigi Hathaway won 11 draw controls.
Although Western rolled over Monticello in this game, Warner knows tougher matchups are coming up.
“We’ve been playing well, but Monticello’s always been a tough win for us over the years,” said Warner. “You win a few games, and you don’t want to stumble, so this win keeps us on the same trajectory we were on…In a few games, we have some tough teams coming up, and we hopefully build on these sorts of games.”
Though Western won this game, Monticello has an opportunity to avenge this loss when they visit Western on their home turf on May 16th.
