Saints can’t return to state final
Published 11:38 pm Thursday, May 21, 2015
Nansemond-Suffolk Academy senior defenseman David Gough, right, was characteristically strong in the state semifinals, particularly in the second half, despite the Saints loss. (Sam Mizelle photo)
The Nansemond-Suffolk Academy boys’ lacrosse team was hungry for its second consecutive trip to the VISAA Division II state championship game, but Virginia Episcopal School cut the Saints’ 2015 run short in the recent state semifinals.
NSA put together an impressive rally in the second half but fell 12-9 to the Bishops at the University of Richmond.
“We got in a little bit of a hole in the first half,” Saints coach T.W. Johnson said. “They put us in a bind where we really had to change some things.”
Virginia Episcopal held a 7-1 lead at halftime.
Johnson said his team changed a couple matchups defensively and increased the tempo a little bit in the second half.
“We started attacking them in a different way offensively, which proved successful,” he said.
The Saints pulled to within three goals a couple of different times, but they simply ran out of time.
“I think anything could have happened if we had more time,” Johnson said.
Nansemond-Suffolk senior midfielder Addison Peak recorded a hat trick, sophomore attackman Tanner Jackson had two goals and one assist and senior attackman Whit Riddick had one goal and one assist. Junior attackman Noah Dowd, junior midfielder Noah Serianni and sophomore midfielder Garrett Leicester scored one goal apiece.
Senior midfielder Cole Jackson contributed four assists.
David Gough, a senior defenseman, wanted to change a matchup on defense so he could guard a particular Virginia Episcopal player and Johnson granted the request, noting, “I believe in David.”
“David Gough was awesome in that game, particularly in the second half,” the coach said. “He made a lot of plays for us on the defensive end.”
NSA finished the 2015 season with a 13-6 overall record.
“All in all, a very good year for us, and it was good to be playing again on the final weekend of the season,” Johnson said.
Regarding how he will remember the season, he first mentioned one word — productive.
“We had a lot of new faces this year, and the guys did a good job of meshing together as a team and older guys looking out for younger guys,” he said.
