By Greg Young
Annandale High School Senior, DigitalSports Intern
** Enjoy
dozens of highlights from Annandale’s 7-6 victory over Robinson in
Thursday’s Northern Region tournament quarterfinal in the video player
below.
**To see highlights of Annandale’s semifinal opponent, Oakton, against Langley, click here.**
When the season started for Annandale, one of the defining questions was whether they could knock off one of the power-teams from the Concorde District. Even though the Atoms had been successful in the Patriot District in recent years, they lacked a truly defining win — a win that will be remembered in Annandale’s considerable lore.
But on Tuesday night, Annandale’s boys’ varsity lacrosse team didn’t just break that recent trend, they smashed it, beating two-time defending state champion and former Patriot District rival Robinson, 7-6, to advance to the semifinal round of the Northern Region tournament.
“It is so big,” said Kevin McCracken, a four-year starter in goal for Annandale. “We lost to them twice in my freshmen year, and it felt great to beat them.”
Annandale was led by three goals from Matt Johnson and two from Zach Sells.
But it was the outstanding play of the Atoms’ defense — led by Nick Crumpecker, Steven Kim and Cason Kynes — that kept the Rams out of rhythm all game, forcing them to shoot from the point and dominating the ground-ball battle. Annandale’s defense also came up big shorthanded, ******* several penalties throughout the game.
“They came up big for us,” Atoms’ Coach Bill Maglisceau said. “We were able to stop them in the second half.”
Added Kynes: “We had a lot to prove. We take a lot of pride in our defense … We’ve understood each other better throughout the season and we’ve worked a lot better together.”
Robinson’s season ends with their loss to Annandale. Despite being the two-time defending state champions, the Rams lost their entire starting line from last year (except their goalie) and their inexperienced showed against the Atoms. During the game, Robinson frequently rushed shots and missed the goal on several attempts.
Annandale, meanwhile, advances to face Oakton, which defeated Langley, 6-5, in another quarterfinal match-up.
“Our fundamentals are going to have to be perfect,” McCracken said. “We
are going to have to play our game early and never look back.”
The winner of that game will earn an automatic berth into the state tournament while the loser will be forced to play a consolation game against the loser of Chantilly vs. Westfield for the right to advance. Only three Northern Region teams will quality for the state tournament.
“There are some tough teams left,” Maglisceau said. “When you beat a team like Robinson, it gives you some confidence going forward.”
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