In what has become commonplace in recent years, Hargrave Military Academy and Fork Union Military Academy once again squared off to decide which program would have undisputed control over the Patriot Lacrosse League. Hargrave entered the contest as the owner of 7 of the last 10 championships, while FUMA had captured 2 in previous years.
The Tigers jumped out to an early lead in the first half of play as all parts of the Tigers’ game were working in sync with each other. Solid defense helped lead to a number of forced turnovers which gave birth to a strong transition game by the Tigers. Then they were able to get the ball down low and really attack Fork Union’s defense. At the end of the first half, the Tigers held a 6-2 lead.
The second half proved to be a much tougher challenge for the Tigers as Fork Union elevated their level of play, especially through the face-off and transition play. The Tigers struggled to find an answer to the Blue Devils face-off dominance. Fork Union made a strong push in the third quarter to move within two goals of the Tigers, but Hargrave continued to capitalize on FUMA mistakes and never relinquished the lead in the game. Having fought off the comeback attempt by the Blue Devils in the 3rd, the Tigers shifted their focus to time management as they held a 2 goal lead with 4 minutes left in the game.
FUMA would take advantage of a late penalty by the Tigers to get within a single goal, but once again, like they have done all season, the Tigers’ defense (led by Jackson Reeder, Caleb Rogers, and Jake Bledsoe) were able to shut down the offense and move the ball to the seasoned offense (lead by Connor Rogers and Nick Duran) whose experience paid off as they withstood multiple attempts by the Blue Devils to gain the ball back and tie the game. As the final buzzer sounded, the Tigers had won their 8th Patriot Title in 11 seasons with the last two championship games against FUMA.
A great team effort was given out on the field for the entire 48 minutes. Standout performances were everywhere; however, without the efforts of Connor Rogers, Nick Duran, Caleb Rogers, Jake Bledsoe, Jackson Reeder, Patrick Lord, and Iver Liu the game may have had a different outcome.
The Tigers finished the Season at 10-6, Patriot League Champions and the #5 ranked team in the VIC.
