Atoms Withstand Storm, Cruise Past West Potomac

Annandale was charged up – electrified even, literally and figuratively. Zack Lalande and Stephen Craig scored four goals each, and Nick Lalande added two goals and five assists to help rout West Potomac 15-1 in a first round Patriot district tournament game that was delayed roughly 40 minutes in the first quarter for lightning.

The win guarantees a spot in the Northern Region tournament, but the Atoms have some unfinished business in the district tournament that they’ll want to take care of first. On Monday, the team will travel to Lee for a second round match up with upset minded T.C. Williams, who knocked off Lake Braddock 8-5. The Titans will have a bit more of a challenge when they face an Annandale team that beat them 18-4 on April 26.

The Atoms, meanwhile, are seeking their first district championship. In 2008, they beat Lake Braddock in the district final at Lee, but lost to West Springfield in the 2009 final and later to Woodson in the 2010 final. Those two teams met again in each of the last two finals with the Lancers winning both times. While Lee won’t be an issue this year, a showdown with Woodson, who handed Annandale its only district loss this year, appears to be on the horizon.

While Friday’s result was never really in question, Annandale head coach Bill Maglisceau isn’t taking anything for granted.

“Whoever loses, their season’s over, so there’s always that hanging over your head no matter who you're playing,” he said. “It’s one of those things where you’ve got to play a team that’s hot off a win, and T.C. Wiliams has some legitimate athletes. We’ve got our hands full, and we’ve only got one day to get ready.”

The storm hit at the 6:28 mark of the opening period with the Atoms leading 2-0, forcing the teams and fans indoors. They had little trouble picking up where they left off, taking a 6-1 lead into halftime before exploding for five more goals in the third quarter.

While enough of a barrage of long range shots got past Wolverines goalkeeper Connor Woods in the first half, the Atoms started to work inside for higher percentage chances after the break. Woods remained impressive and finished with 11 saves, but the tic-tac-toe passing Craig and the Lalande brothers proved to be too much.

“I just said at halftime that we’ve got to go from the ball side to the help side and then come back to the crease, but also just work our fundamentals,” Maglisceau said. “They listened, so that was pretty good.”

It was just the opposite for West Potomac, which started to settle for outside shots that were handled easily by Joe Bermingham, if they even got to the net at all. While the majority of his 10 saves may have been run of the mill, he was at his best quickly setting up clears and confidently taking the ball upfield himself.

“I think Joe did a decent job of seeing the ball,” Maglisceau said. “He’s very good outside the crease as well as we saw, and he’s just got to recognize that when the shots are going to come he’s got to hug that pipe and make sure that we’re taking care of business.”

Annandale’s offense was rounded out by Nate Miller (1 G, 2 A), Andrew (2 G), Alex Villafana (1 G) and James Terrell (1 G). Demeitre Reiss scored the Wolverines’ only goal.

Before the game, Craig, Miller and Lalande were recognized for each having scored their 100th career goals this season. In the 23 year history of the program, only five other players have reached that milestone. Craig’s second goal of the night moved him into fourth place on Annandale’s all-time scoring list, meaning with Lalande (third all-time) and Miller (second), the Atoms have three of their top four career scorers on the roster at the same time. The trio trails only Eric Liebowitz (class of ’98), son of legendary Annandale coach Bob Liebowitz, who went on to play at the University of Virginia.

Correction: A previous version of this story stated the Atoms beat Lee in the 2008 final. The Atoms beat Lake Braddock in 2008. The story has been changed to reflect this.