St. Anne’s-Belfield seems to have stumbled on to a simple formula that works pretty well. The Saints disposed of Western Albemarle in much the same fashion that St. Anne’s did Woodberry Forest on Saturday - jump out to a big lead, stay patient on offense and let a solid defense take over.

In a matchup that featured two of the best lacrosse teams in the state, Collegiate ended Albemarle’s unbeaten season Monday night 13-6.

St. Anne’s-Belfield was aware that Woodberry Forest was going to rally after the break. The only question was how close they’d get.

At first glance, Nancy Haws’ halftime speech didn’t seem to have much of an effect on her Western Albemarle girls lacrosse charges. But with a little help from the Warriors’ senior goalkeeper, her words had the desired effect.

Since losing to Collegiate a week ago, the Albemarle girls lacrosse team has been taking out its frustration on its most recent opponents.

After a year of waiting, Albemarle got revenge Friday night with a 9-7 road win.
The Patriots fell behind 4-2 in the first half before bouncing back to take a heated contest against a familiar rival.

Fork Union lacrosse coach Houston Eldridge, an assistant for 10 years at the Academy, notched his first victory in season one as head coach on Thursday, as his Blue Devils withstood a valiant comeback from the Miller School to prevail 11-5.

It’s hard say to whether the offense or defense was better for the St. Anne’s-Belfield boys lacrosse team on Tuesday night, but both units were firing on all cylinders in the Saints’ 10-1 route of Notre Dame Academy.

A promising start had long ago turned into a shaky second half, but one last defensive stand helped the St. Anne’s-Belfield boys lacrosse team escape with a victory.

It takes a unique personality to stand in front of a lacrosse net. Standing in a circle while people constantly pelt you with a hard rubber ball is a thankless job, but that doesn’t seem to bother Western goalkeeper Colleen Cozart.

Led by a balanced attack and smothering defense, Albemarle’s boys lacrosse team maintained its unblemished record on Wednesday night with a 10-3 victory over visiting Colonial Forge.

Once the Warriors started executing, though, they took over, rolling to a 14-2 victory over Charlottesville to move to 3-1 on the season.

It’s been two weeks since the Western Albemarle girls lacrosse team lost to Albemarle, but the game is still in the back of the all the Warriors’ minds.

On Friday night, the Black Knights showed it, doing all the small things right in their 10-3 rout of Monticello.