|  | | Yorktown
senior Daniel Carson, who led the Patriots with a game-high four goals,
listens intently to final instructions from Coach Greg Beer as time
winded down Tuesday night in an 11-6 win over McLean. | For Yorktown�??s boys�?? lacrosse team, beating visiting McLean,
11-6, Tuesday night in the opening round of the AAA Northern Region
tournament was merely step one. The Patriots have a much more
substantial goal in mind.
No team from the National District has ever advanced to the semifinal round of region tournament. Not yet, anyway.
�??We�??re
definitely hoping to put and end to that steak,�?� said senior attach
Daniel Carson, who registered a game-high four goals against the
Highlanders.
Yorktown is the National�??s District top seed for the second consecutive year. And though they got off to a slow start against McLean, the fourth-seed out of the Liberty District, once the Patriots hit their stride there was no looking back.
After being shut out in the opening quarter, Yorktown tallied nine goals in the second and third quarters to break open a 9-4 lead. Carson was at the center of the offensive attack, but six other Patriots also got in on the action.
Also scoring for Yorktown
were senior midfielder Sean Johnsen (2), junior attack Billy Spack,
senior attack Clay Chamberlin, senior midfielders Milt Chamberlain and
Patrick Jaffke and senior defensemen Matt Merkel.
| | Senior captain Max Milien watches his teammates intently during the closing minutes of the third quarter Tuesday. |
�??Our
offense was trying to do too much individually in the first quarter,�?�
said Patriots�?? second-year Coach Greg Beer. �??We needed to look up and
find the open man. Once we did that and passed the ball there were open
people all over the place. We got some good shots and we were able to
break it open a little bit.�?�
The
catalyst for the offense, though, was the stellar defensive play of
Merkel and Lee Thomas. The duo, along with starting defensemen Alex
Thiell and goal keeper Brad Chamberlin, was instrumental not only in
halting the Highlanders�?? attack, but also in advancing the ball up the
field.
�??All
three of my defensemen and my goalie are all seniors, so I think that
helped us out a lot,�?� Beer said. �??They�??ve all played a long time, and
you saw how beneficial that was for us. They were able to calm it down
and clear the ball really well.�?�
Next up for Yorktown is Westfield, which it will host at 7 p.m. on Thursday in the quarterfinal round with a chance to make history. Westfield, the No. 2 seed out of the Concorde District, advanced with a 9-6 win Tuesday over Patriot District No. 3 seed Annandale.
�??I�??d
give anything to win this next game and advance �?� anything,�?� Thomas
said. �??I mean, we�??ve been working for four years and we�??ve come a long
way, but we still have a long way to go to reach our goals. We�??re
hoping to make a real name for ourselves.�?� |