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Annandale boys lacrosse advances to Patriot final
This year's crop of seniors on the Annandale boys lacrosse team had yet to beat rival West Springfield, finishing 0-6 against the Spartans since 2004.
But Annandale senior Matt Johnson saw to it that he and his classmates had at least one victory to savor over the fourth-seeded Spartans.
Johnson's memorable eight-goal performance lifted his squad to a 9-4 win Monday night, as the top-seeded Atoms earned a slot in the Patriot District tournament final on Thursday.
Bundle Monday with Johnson's five-goal effort during Annandale's 17-4 win over Lee in the opening round of the tournament, and the talented attack has now scored half of his team's 26 postseason tallies.
“It's a great feeling,” said Johnson, who'll continue his lacrosse career next-season at Washington-Lee University in Lexington, Va. “It feels good to finally get over that hump and beat [West Springfield].”
After an 8-7 home loss to West Springfield on April 9, Annandale coach Bill Maglisceau concluded that his team needed to refrain from starting its offensive attack behind the Spartans' goal.
Instead, Maglisceau expected his midfielders to initiate the offense and play a pivotal role -- but maybe not the pivotal role that he expected.
“We thought it was going to be the midfielders carrying the load, which they did because they were attracting all the attention,” said Maglisceau, whose team improved to 11-2 this season. “They could find [Matt Johnson] down right on the pipes and he could get it finished.”
Annandale will play the winner of Monday night's battle between No. 2 Lake Braddock and No. 3 South County.
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