Warrior Sports News

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By David Wagner

Freeman Rebels Outlast Warriors

Western Albemarle’s varsity boy’s lacrosse hosted the powerful 5A Douglass S. Freeman Rebels (Richmond) March 27 for their home opener. After a 21-1 drubbing of Salem the previous Friday in Salem, Freeman posed a much bigger challenge for the Warriors. The Rebels are an experienced bunch (12 seniors) led by John Woolley and Evan Tyler.

Western came out of the gates firing and jumped out to a 3-0 lead, just three minutes and 42 seconds into the game. Junior Jack Loffredo won the opening faceoff for the Warriors and quickly scored on an assist from senior Taylor Godine. Two minutes later senior Clark Sipe found the net off of a Sumner Corbett (senior) assist and Corbett then scored another quick one, unassisted to give Western the lead.

It looked as though the Warriors had caught the Rebels off guard with their fast pace on offense but the Rebels countered and proceeded to score five consecutive goals to take a two-goal lead. Woolley scored three of the goals in a span of one minute and 34 seconds as the Rebels stole momentum from the Warriors. Each team tallied one more goal in the quarter as junior Luke Reilly scored unassisted for Western with just 39 seconds to go, cutting Freeman’s lead to 5-4 at the end of the first period.

Freeman scored just 35 seconds into the second quarter on an unassisted Tyler goal before both defenses settled in. For nearly eight minutes neither team scored, but the quarter ended on a flurry of activity as the teams traded goals in the last three and a half minutes.

Sipe scored for Western on a Luke Reilly assist with 3:37 on the clock. The Rebels’ Ford Hendrix scored 37 seconds later on a Woolley assist to stretch the lead back to two before the Warriors’ Nick Crissey scored with a Jack Loffredo assist. Freeman closed out the scoring in the quarter when Tyler found the net for the third time, and the Rebels led 8-6 going into the break.

The third quarter proved to be the difference in the game. Freeman outscored the Warriors 5 to 2 in the period with a balanced attack that saw four different Rebels score. For the Warriors, Corbett scored his second of the game and senior Oliver Herndon scored when he won a clean faceoff and raced down the middle of the field to score unassisted. But the Rebels took momentum and a big 13-8 lead into the fourth quarter.

Western regrouped and started the quarter fast, scoring two goals in roughly one minute to cut the Rebel lead to three. Thirty-five seconds in, sophomore Ryan Ingram scored on Godine’s second assist and Loffredo followed that up with his second goal on a Corbett assist.

The Rebels slowed the pace down a bit and went back up by four when Tyler scored again, unassisted, to squelch the Warrior surge. Corbett added two more goals for the Warriors and Tyler scored his fourth for Freeman as the Rebels held on for the 15-12 win.

Western had to finish the game without two of its leaders. Reilly left the game with what appeared to be concussion symptoms in the second quarter and Crissey exited in the third quarter with a leg injury. Junior Carter Elliot was also absent for the night. Without these three, the Warrior attack was somewhat limited in the second half, but adjustments by Head Coach Alex Whitten and his staff kept the Warriors in the game.

The Warriors play their next game Saturday, April 11, at Western at 2 p.m., when they will host northern Virginia powerhouse Lake Braddock.

Other Sports News

Varsity girls soccer got off to a hot start with two shutout wins. The Warriors blanked Orange County High School 11-0 in a game that Western underclassmen dominated. Freshmen Caitlin Harvey and Elizabeth Fabiano each scored three goals, while fellow freshman Jane Romness scored twice. Sophomores Nicole Heon, Emma Ratcliff and Nell Fountain each scored one goal.

In the home opener March 27 the Warriors hosted Collegiate (Richmond) and won 4-0. Again, underclassmen led the way as Fabiano scored two more goals to bring her season total to five in just two games. Freshman Shannon Moore scored one goal and junior Caroline Riordan scored as well.

Varsity baseball also started its 2015 campaign in strong fashion, reeling off four straight wins.

The Warriors shut out Fort Defiance 7-0 and Orange County 10-0, and then handily defeated Spotswood, 13-5, and Eastern View (Culpeper), 11-3.

Senior Josh Casteen and junior Sam Hearn each got two wins on the mound for the Warriors. Casteen pitched shutouts against Fort Defiance and Orange County.

Junior Henry Kreinbaum has been the leader at the plate with nine RBI and four extra base hits (one home run, two triples, one double). Senior Steve Mangrum has four RBI, one double and one triple, and Casteen has four RBI and a double. Senior Dylan Weiss, junior Chris Hughes and freshman Derek Domecq have also made significant contributions at the plate. Weiss has two triples and two RBI in four games. Domecq has four RBI and a double, and infielder Chris Hughes has added three RBI. The Warriors have outscored their opponents 41-8 in four games!

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