Coffey stimulates Pats

Albemarle was poised to make a statement in its first district home game of the season on Tuesday, and got huge games from each of its three senior team captains en route to a 4-1 victory over visiting Stafford.

Ben Coffey scored a goal and dished out three assists on the night, while Michael Madigan scored two goals and fellow defender Kyle Rose also put one past Stafford goalkeeper T.J. Terrill to set the tone for the Patriots, who moved to 2-0 in the highly competitive Commonwealth District.

“I think it’s important to set the tempo for the season,” said Albemarle coach Scott Jackson following the win. “I know the guys were fired up, and they played hard and got the win.”

The Patriots (4-0) got things started on a Madigan goal in which he beat a couple of Indians defenders with 9:57 left in the first half.

Coffey added a momentum-building score just before halftime off an assist by another senior, Brian Natale.

“Coffey showed a lot of composure on the ball, he had a lot of time and just finished it really smoothly,” said Jackson.

Stafford (0-1-1, 0-1-1) got on the board right out of the gate in the second half, as Indians senior midfielder Julio Torres knocked in a goal just two and a half minutes in, and Albemarle’s lead was cut in half.

A few minutes later, Coffey sent a corner kick in Rose’s direction, and the senior defender headed it in past Terrill to ignite the home crowd and push the lead back to two.

“Another great corner kick cross by Ben, he drives it in with speed, and Kyle’s a big, strong athlete and went up and won the ball for us,” Jackson said of the goal.

Madigan scored his second goal, set up beautifully by Coffey, with 11:47 left to seal the victory for his team on a chilly evening.

The Patriots controlled the action much of the contest, and Jackson acknowledged his team’s experience, communication and ball movement as the driving factors in their success.

“There are so many seniors on the team, and they’re pretty good with self-analysis,” Jackson said. “A lot of times [the coaches] ask them, ‘what do you guys see,’ and they’re pretty self-aware and they knew they had to move the ball quicker, and I think it paid dividends in the second half.”

Jackson said that this year’s team’s defense is strong, and with goalkeeper Brandon Agee playing well, the sky is the limit this season for his troops, who would love to get past the Northwest Region playoffs this year.

“We feel pretty comfortable with the guys back there, they have a lot of heart and they’re tough kids,” said Jackson, whose Patriots will try to win another big district road game on Friday at Colonial Forge. “Showing the real character of a team is if they can raise their game when they’re away from home, and that will be our focus over the next couple of days of practice.”