Western comes up short

CHANTILLY — Western Albemarle’s Max Pfeifer, Matt Galvin, Mack Schwoebel and Quin Sweeney all tried. Even Jacob Myers gave it a few shots.
But the Warriors simply couldn’t find an answer for Chantilly’s defensive slide as the Chargers knocked Western out of the VHSL state tournament with a 10-5 semifinal victory at Westfield High Tuesday night.
“Defensively they did a great job against us,” said Western coach Hunter Price. “They extended and put pressure on us. Every shot we had, every goal we had, we had to work for.”
Senior Michael Quigg spearheaded the Chargers’ defense and managed to hold Pfeifer to a goal and a pair of assists. Quigg had a lot of help on the Western senior though. Chantilly slid early on every Western run at the goal, double-teaming Galvin and Pfeifer on attempted dodges from behind and Schwoebel on runs from the top of the restraining box.
“They had some great attackmen but our defense did a fabulous job,” said Chantilly coach Kevin Broderick. “I think the difference was ground balls and our defense.”
Chantilly goalie Derek Kegerreis took care of whatever shots the Warriors did muster, coming up with 11 saves on the Warriors’ 25 total shots.
The Chargers took a 3-2 edge in the first quarter, forcing Western to work for both its goals with Pfeifer and Galvin coming up with unassisted efforts. In the second quarter, the Chargers extended the lead to 5-2.
“They slid very early from the crease and we did a terrible job of moving the ball,” Price said. “We forced the crease way too much and we kept the ball in our stick way too long.”
Western’s scoring drought stretched through the end of the third quarter and on into the fourth before Galvin managed to bang another goal in with midway through the fourth. Myers also scored an unassisted goal and Galvin popped in another in the fourth. 
By then it was a little too late as Chantilly continued to take its time on offensive possessions and ground down the clock. 
Corey Aferiat and Ian Mills each posted hat tricks to lead Chantilly’s offense. Aferiat also had a pair of assists. Senior Kevin O’Neill had two goals and two assists. 
Western goalie Cody Peters defended 44 total shots by Chantilly’s offense and fought admirably coming up with nine saves, but the Chargers maintained possession after a majority of their shots. That set up an endless series of second, third and fourth chances.
“[Peters] just faced too many shots,” Price said. “When you see a barrage of shots like that you can only save but so many of them.”
It didn’t help the Warriors that Chantilly held a decisive advantage on faceoffs, coming up with 11 to Western’s five.
“I knew it was going to come down to faceoffs and time of possession and they had that,” Price said. “We just didn’t execute.”
Western was even flat on ground balls, where the Warriors usually hold at least a slight advantage. The Chargers hauled in 34 ground balls to the Warriors’ 17.
The win was Chantilly’s first-ever state semifinal victory, in the Chargers’ first-ever trip to the tournament. The Chargers will face Oakton, who beat Albemarle in the other state semifinal at Westfield.