patriots halt hawks

May 12, 2011 12:15 am

The Black-Hawks' Alan Jones (right) gets roughed by the Patriots' Eric Reigle (12) during third-quarter play at Brooke Point yesterday. Jones scored two goals, but the Black-Hawks fell 9-8 in double overtime.

Brooke Point's Paul Hummer (10) scores on a diving shot with 11:47 left in the third quarter, giving the Black-Hawks a 5-3 lead. The Patriots battled back to take the Black-Hawks into extra periods, where the Patriots prevailed.

Hummer, who scored two goals yesterday, tries to run around the defense of Albemarle's Derrick Leake (19).

BY TAFT COGHILL JR.

Albemarle High School lacrosse coach Pat McAdams didn't allow the thought to cross his mind.

If the Patriots had lost last night's Commonwealth District clash with Brooke Point, they would've had to return to Stafford County today.

A Brooke Point win would've forced a tiebreaker game for the No. 1 seed in the district tournament and an automatic bid to the Northwest Region playoffs.

The game would've been held at a neutral site, Colonial Forge, forcing the Patriots to make another two-hour trip.

But Albemarle can rest easy now.

That's because freshman attackman Matt Crist delivered the game-winning goal with 21 seconds left in double overtime, lifting the Patriots to an emotional 9-8 road victory over the Black-Hawks.

Brooke Point (8-6, 8-2 Commonwealth) must now advance to the district tournament championship game to qualify for the regional playoffs.

Albemarle completed a 10-0 season in district play.

"I hadn't even thought about that possibility," McAdams said of returning today. "Obviously it's there and you have to deal with it if it arises, but we had to deal with what was in front of us. That was a big reason why we won it."

Four goals from Steve Mastropaolo didn't hurt, either.

Teammate Ryan McCullough added three tallies.

The Black-Hawks were paced by two goals each from Colby Brainard, Paul Hummer and Alan Jones.

Robert Harris and Kevin McGlade added a score each.

Brooke Point went ahead 6-4 on Brainard's second goal with 4:27 left in the third quarter.

But head coach Mike Seymour said that's when the Black-Hawks began to unravel.

"We turned the ball over and committed stupid penalties," Seymour said. "I think that was the turning point of the game. We shot ourselves in the foot."

Albemarle scored two straight goals to tie the game at 6.

Brooke Point bounced back on Harris' score with 11:34 left in the fourth quarter.

McCullough scored 22 seconds later to tie the game at 7.

Mastropaolo gave the Patriots an 8-7 lead on a goal with 10:49 left in regulation, but Jones' final score tied the game at 8 with 7:15 remaining.

Both teams had opportunities to win the game before Crist delivered in the second four-minute extra period.

"Our defense made big stops at the end," Crist said. "We were man-down three times in overtime. Finally we were able to possess the ball. I thought I could take my guy, and I did."

Crist's score set off an Al-bemarle celebration. Brooke Point's players were dejected, some kneeling on the field in disappointment.

Seymour said it was a tense contest. McAdams said the teams have developed quite a rivalry.

The Black-Hawks wanted to avenge its only other district loss this season--a 7-5 setback to the Patriots.

"That's a tough thing to talk about," Seymour said of the emotions involved in last night's contest. "These are high school kids playing a very emotional game. The swing is up and down. You've got to understand that when you're dealing with high school emotions, it can show during [tense] moments."

The Black-Hawks will host James Monroe on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the first round of the district tournament.

Seymour said the message to his team last night was simple.

"It only counts in the playoffs," he said.

Taft Coghill Jr.: 540/374-5526
Email: tcoghill@freelancestar.com