Albemarle jumps to 4-1 in Commonwealth

It may be early in the season, but the Albemarle boys lacrosse team has got itself out to a good jump in the Commonwealth District.
The Patriots played their fifth Commonwealth opponent in six games on Wednesday night, and held off a late Colonial Forge surge to win 9-6.
“That was an exceptional game all in all,” said Albemarle coach Pat McAdams. “That was a good quality win for this group. I’m glad we put together a much better effort than in the previous game we played. There was a lot more energy on offense, more explosiveness. The ball was in and our of our sticks.”
The Patriots (4-2, 4-1 CD) showed incredible scoring balance against the Eagles as eight different players found the back the net.
The Patriots jumped out to a 4-1 lead at the half, due in part to the Patriots’ ability to transition using their defenders.
“We had some timely plays in the midfield,” McAdams said. “I thought that was key, particularly with Eric Reigel on the pole.”
The Patriots attack was a constant pain for the Colonial Forge defense as whenever the Eagles came up with possession, Albemarle would force a turnover just seconds later.
“Their defenders were huge,” said Patriots attackman Bernie Mowbray. “I think one of their guys was 6-foot-9. They were big but slower so we tried to take advantage of that. We got pretty good hands on the pick up.”
Mowbray led the Albemarle offense with a pair of goals and an assist.
“When we would go [isolation] on the middies it was just an easy dump to the crease,” Mowbray said. “Their whole defense would slide so there was open crease all the time.”
Mowbray was one of four players to finish with one goal and an assist. That list also included Hunter McCann, Ryan McCullough and Billy Crist.
“The fact that we got eight goal scorers involved is just great, really super,” McAdams said. “To have that is just a great feeling.”
Trailing by as many as five goals at the end of the third quarter, Forge (5-2, 2-2) cut the deficit to three with 3:25 to play in the game.
“That’s the nature of lacrosse,” McAdams said of the momentum change in the fourth quarter. “I think that’s something that we need to think about, understand and learn through experience. The game is a very fickle thing and it can actually get out of hand before you know it. We flirted with some of that tonight.”
However, Tyler Reigel put any Eagle comeback hopes to rest by putting his team back up by four with two minutes remaining.
“Our problem is that we start slow,” said Forge coach Blair Penny. “We can usually finish strong, but it’s hard to start slow, finish strong, and then look to come out with what you’re looking for against [Albemarle].”
Reed Kaucher was the Eagles leading scoring with three goals. Aedan Herman chipped in a goal and three assists.