Lynchburg, Va. -

     Although the name of the district changed this off-season, the Champion did not.

     E.C. Glass boys’ varsity lacrosse knocked off #1 seeded Patrick Henry on the road yesterday, 10 – 7, to earn the inaugural Virginia West District Championship. Glass brought home the Jefferson District Championship last spring for their first district title under Head Coach Eddie Ranuska.

     In last night’s game, Sam Craighill and Hunt McCarthy put the Hilltoppers up early, but consecutive goals from Patrick Henry in the final sixty seconds of the first quarter knotted the game at two. The Patriots carried that momentum over into the second quarter finding the back of the net early to take a 3 – 2 lead.

     Unfortunately for Patrick Henry, that would be their only lead of the game, as two more goals from Craighill and goals from Robbie Bryant and Tre Rose gave Glass a 6 – 3 lead heading into the half.

     The Patriots came out sizzling in the second half with back-to-back goals, but the Hilltoppers defense were able to settle down and regain control of the game. After big stops on the defensive end, Daniel Kosowski, Matt Riordan and Colin Montgomery all scored in less than two minutes to extend the Glass lead to four goals. The Patriots were able to tally one more before the end of the third cutting the Hilltopper lead to three.

     Glass came out all business in the fourth as Riordan found the back of the net early to extend the lead back to four. Patrick Henry was able to squeak out another goal, but there would be no comeback, as Glass earned their second consecutive District Championship.

     Craighill finished with a hat trick while Riordan had an all-around effort tallying two goals and two assists. Jimbo Moore also recorded two assists while Brian Davies racked up 12 saves between the pipes.

     Glass (12 – 3), who moved up to #3 in the region and #9 in the state with the “W”,  now hits the road for Richmond this Tuesday for a contest with #8 Douglas Freeman (11 – 5). Although the two teams have not faced off this season, they had a common opponent in Albemarle. Freeman knocked them off, 6 – 5, way back on March 28 while Glass beat them, 10 – 7, just seven days ago.

Lynchburg, Va. -

     #5 in the region, E.C. Glass varsity lacrosse travels to Patrick Henry this evening to play in the Virginia West Championship.  It is Glass’ second consecutive trip to a district championship after winning the Jefferson District in 2011.

     Not only did the boys outscore Salem High School in Tuesday night’s semifinal, the Hilltoppers also outplayed the Spartans in route to an 8 – 5 victory.  Glass outscored Salem in all but one quarter and controlled the momentum throughout a majority of the game.

     The Spartans jumped on the board early, but back-to-back goals from Jimbo Moore and Robbie Bryant gave Glass a 2 – 1 lead. Moore would find the back of the net once more before the end of the quarter as Glass headed into the second up 3 – 1.

     After Salem made it a one goal game with less than eleven minutes to play in the second, Sam Craighill and Tre Rose each tallied a goal in a time span of two minutes to increase the lead to three.  The Spartans were able to answer back with just over two minutes to play before the break, but on the ensuing possession, a huge save from Brian Davies in net, lead to another Bryant goal as Glass headed into the half up 6 – 3.

     The Hilltoppers shot out of the gates in the second half and extended their lead to 8 – 3 behind goal’s from Moore and Colin Montgomery.  Salem was able to tack on two more goals before the end of the game, but Davies and the Glass defense crushed any hopes of a comeback victory for their rival, defeating the Spartans for the fifth time in their last six meetings.

     Davies finished with eleven saves on the evening, while the offense was led by Moore and Bryant.  Moore finished with a hat trick while Bryant registered two goals and an assist.

     Davies, and the defense anchored by senior captain Joe Vincent, will be vital to the Hilltoppers success in tonight’s Championship game.  Glass split the regular season series with PH with both programs winning on the road.

     Tonight’s contest is slated for 7:30 pm.

Lynchburg Va. -

     When E.C. Glass boys’ varsity lacrosse takes the field against Patrick Henry this evening, the Western District regular season title will be up for grabs.

     Glass (10 – 1 / 6 – 0) ended Patrick Henry’s run at a perfect season last Saturday on the road. Senior goalie Brian Davies registered 15 saves on the day as Glass earned a hard fought victory, 4 – 2. Sam Craighill led the way for the Hilltoppers with two goals while Matt Riordan and Jimbo Moore each found the back of the net once.

     Heading into this evening’s showdown, Glass is ranked #3 in the region and #8 in the state, according to laxpower.com. Glass has played consistently well on both sides of the ball averaging 13.27 goals a game while only allowing 3.27, good enough for sixth and first place in the region respectively in those categories.

     Patrick Henry, who is ranked #6 in the region, bounced back with a midweek win over Rockbridge County and would love nothing more than to get even and claim the regular season title. Then again, it is a lot easier said than done against a Hilltoppers squad that has not allowed an opponent to score over eight goals all season and have outscored them 146 – 36 in the process.

     Are you kidding me? 146 – 36. I am no math major, but that looks like a 110 goal advantage on the season. Winners of their last six, Glass and Head Coach Eddie Ranuska are as potent as ever gearing up for what looks to be another thrilling postseason run.