Outstanding Play(s) By:

Hawks Complete Comeback; Defeat Atoms in OT to Capture 3^rd Seed!

     The Boys Varsity Lacrosse program arrived at Annandale, with an outcome in mind. Win, and they would gain the 3^rd seed in the Gunston District Tourney. This would be the highest achieved seeding in the last 4 years. The Hawks were confident that they would come out on top, perhaps too much! Annandale, who would also gain the 3^rd seed with a victory, came out firing on all cylinders, building a 4-1 first quarter lead, and a seemingly insurmountable 6-1 lead at halftime. All seemed lost, as Hayfield had only managed one first quarter goal, from leading scorer Sr. Brian Marshall (2 goals), and had seemed totally out of sync on both ends of the field.

    Halftime was a spirited time. First, Coach Artero fired up the squad, for the first three minutes, followed by a strategic message from Coach Mercer. Overall, the best point of view came from Sr. Luke Artero (1 goal, 2 assists) who usually lets his play do his talking. Luke gave an impassioned plea to all players to raise their game, at least to the level the Hawks were accustomed to play at. Then Luke recollected from his freshman year, Hayfield’s 9 goal comeback vs. Fairfax HS (resulting in a 13-10 Hayfield victory).

     The Hawks who played in the 3^rd quarter, were a different team all together! Hayfield took nine shots in the 3^rd quarter, burying 5 of them (outscoring the Atoms 5-2), to pull to within 2 goals (8-6). The Hawks were not done. They shutout the Atoms for the final 14.5 minutes (entire 4^th quarter, plus 2 plus minutes in extra period). Hayfield played the game with a desperation of a team that did not want to home empty handed.

    With 30 seconds remaining in regulation, Hayfield (down 8-7), coming off of their last timeout, set out to tie the game. Marshall swept right around two picks, only to have his stick checked out of his hand by a masterful poke check from the Annandale defenseman. Marshall kept his wits, snagged his stick out of the air, caught the ball, reversed directions and barreled toward Annandale’s goalie. With 18 seconds remaining Marshall completed Hayfield’s comeback, knotting the game at 8 goals apiece. Hayfield had to withstand a near game winner from an Annandale midfielder, before entering OT.

    In Overtime, Hayfield seemingly lost their initiative, when it appeared to all in the stands and sidelines, that Artero had lost the face-off, and Annandale would gain the key 1^st possession. However, Luke Artero, ever the clever player, had lost the face-off on purpose, knowing his opponent would try to push it forward, to start a Fastbreak. Artero jumped up, gained an inside position on his opponent and drew a loose ball push. Upon the restart, Artero took matters into his own hands, and drove with furious and purposeful speed towards Annandale’s end. Several Atoms tried in vane to stop him, but Artero was able to race by all of them. As the defensemen slid to stop him, Artero, fired a quick pass to Sr. Jamin Phillips (4 goals), who found the back of the net; erasing all the angst and frustration of the first half, and the past two seasons (2 wins overall from 2017-2018), to win the game, to win the 3^rd seed, and to gain Hayfield’s first regional berth in 9 seasons!

   Other notable performances: Sr. Jake Fischer (15 saves), only allowed 2 goals in final 24 minutes. Jr. Hayden Page (2 goals, 1 assist), who tallied twice in the pivotal 3^rd quarter. Sr. Omar Diallo (8 ground balls), scooped up most of the loose balls in the 2^nd half. Sr. Kody Venable (2 ground balls), who shut down Annandale’s main attackman, and was Hayfield’s emotional 2^nd half leader.

Points Scored By:

Goals: H. Page (2), L. Artero (1), A. Turay (0), B. Marshall (2), O. Diallo (0), J. Phillips (4),     S. Moment (0), A. Medrano (0), T. Muehlbauer (0), J. Page (0), M. Luffred (0), K. Venable (0)