Atoms Win Patriot District Championship

For a senior class as talented as Annandale’s, the only thing missing from their resume was a district title. The Atoms left no doubt as to the status of their legacy on Friday when they exploded for a 17-3 win over Woodson that was never even close.

Nick Lalande scored six goals and Joe Bermingham made 15 saves, shutting out the Cavaliers completely in the second half, as Annandale won its first Patriot District title since 2008. Only two players from this year’s roster – Nate Miller and Peter Hagen – were part of the 2008 team, and the Atoms settled for runner up finishes each of the last two years.

“It feels great,” Lalande said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment all three years I’ve been playing on varsity, and it’s good that it came senior year.”

The result ensures Annandale two home games in next week’s Northern Region tournament, the first of which will be against Thomas Jefferson on Tuesday. Woodson, meanwhile, will host Stone Bridge before likely going on the road on Thursday.

Nate Miller finished with four goals and brother Ryan added four goals and four assists.

The Atoms put the pedal down early as Lalande scored nine seconds into the game, and Nate Miller reeled off three more goals to open a 4-0 lead in the opening minutes. Lalande added another mark with 9.5 seconds left in the first quarter as the game quickly turned one sided.

The start of the game was a far cry from the teams’ first meeting on April 16, a rain-soaked game which the Cavs won 13-7. On Friday, Annandale figured out Woodson’ Connor Wade early and kept the Patriot District first-team goalie out of rhythm for much of the night.

“We got a little quicker start,” Lalande said. “We got it going, and there was no stopping from there.”

Clayton Wainer finally put the Cavs on the board at the 8:37 mark of the second quarter and Woodson scored all three of its goals in that frame, but each time, the Atoms responded quickly and went into halftime with a 9-3 lead. Joey Coscia and Brian Cooper also scored for Woodson.

Wade settled down in the second half and finished with 10 saves, but the constant barrage of offense from Annandale proved to be much to handle. Annandale added eight more goals after halftime many of which came from point blank range as the Woodson defense began to overextend.

“It’s obviously very disappointing,” Woodson acting head coach Ryan Hilliard said. “I still think he’s a tremendous goalie, and I would go with Connor no matter what. [Annandale] obviously wanted it more."

It was quite a different story at the other end of the field, as Bermingham made save after save, each seemingly more impressive than the last. The sophomore earned the starting spot this year after Bob Stevens moved to defense, and says not having the memories of two consecutive title game losses has been an advantage.

“I wanted to do it for them. They’re my brothers, they deserved it,” Bermingham said of the upperclassmen who had come up one game short twice before.

Bermingham earned the game ball from head coach Bill Maglisceau, as well as his praise.

“When you have our guys shooting on him every day in practice, you’re going to get better,” Maglisceau said. “And the guys really believe in him, which is big.”

Maglisceau sounded like he was describing a lacrosse clinic in his assessment of what his team did to win.

‘We just did a good job on groundballs, maintained possession, took good shots and played strong defense,” he said.

The Atoms now have the inside track to a regional semifinal appearance and will almost certainly improve on last year’s 2010 first round loss to Westfield when they take on Jefferson. Woodson, on the other hand, will have a difficult time returning to the state semifinals. If the Cavs get past Stone Bridge, which they beat 12-7 in the second round of regionals last year, a likely match up with Concorde District champion Chantilly awaits. In those teams only meeting this year on March 15, the Chargers emerged victorious with a 9-8 win while going on to finish with a 15-1 record.