The Yorktown Patriots shutdown defense met the task and was a key reason the team repeated as the champions of the 6D North Region boys lacrosse tournament with a 3-0 record.
In the May 31 title match at Yorktown (16-3), the Patriots led the Madison Warhawks 5-0 at halftime on their way to winning 10-7 for the high-school team’s ninth straight victory.
The postseason-tournament crown was the team’s fifth in a row, as the Patriots finished undefeated last season when they won district, region and state crowns. Earlier this season, Yorktown won the Liberty District tourney.
In its three 2022 region-tournament games, Yorktown allowed 17 goals. That included a 12-1 first-round victory over the Oakton Cougars and a 12-9 semifinal win over the Centreville Wildcats.
“Our defense is really talented, and everyone picks up the slack and focuses on the team, emphasizing getting off to a good start and finishing strong,” said Yorktown senior defenseman Patrick Ferguson, who will play Division I college lacrosse at West Point.
The game got tight in the second half against 2019 region champion Madison, as the Warhawks cut the lead to 7-6 with 6:54 left in the final period, but Yorktown’s defense caused some turnovers and senior Miles Fang won two big faceoffs.
“It was very important to win those faceoffs, get the possessions and turn the ball over to our offense,” said Fang, who scored one goal in the region final.
In addition to Ferguson and Fang, other big contributors on that Yorktown defense have been James Aldinger, Jacob Williams, Miles Fang, Simon Koide, Owen Haley, Vincent Spolidoro and goalie Hayden Whittington, who made seven saves in the region final. Fang, Ferguson an Aldinger were all-region selections.
Offensively in the region final for Yorktown, Jack Martinez scored three goals, Tyler Randles and Connor Kaetzel netted two each, Hudson Greene had a goal and three assists, Garrett Wing had one goal and one assist and Will Hock had an assist. Martinez and Kaetzel are all-region choices.
“It’s amazing to win this again,” Fang said. “We were able to have some long possessions in the first half that were important, then we make some big plays we needed to after Madison made a run in the second half.”
Yorktown coach Greg Beer expected Madison to rally.
“We came out fired up, we started strong and possessed the ball,” Beer said. “But Madison is way too good not to make a run and get back in the game.”
Beer said that in addition to the Patriots strong defense, his team has balanced scoring when it possesses the ball.
“We don’t rely on one person to score. We have a lot of options on offense, and that makes us hard to guard,” he said.
Against Centreville in the region semifinal, Yorktown’s defense held the Wildcats to just one second-half goal, as the Patriots rallied to win after trailing 8-7 entering the fourth quarter. Against Oakton, Yorktown led just 2-1 at halftime, then held the Cougars scoreless in the second half.
The Yorktown defense has been stingy all season. In 10 of Yorktown’s victories, opponents were held to five goals or fewer. During its nine-match winning streak, no team has scored double-digit goals against the Patriots.
Next for Yorktown is the Virginia High School League’s Class 6 state tournament.
NOTES: By winning five straight postseason tournaments over a two-year stretch, Yorktown has a 13-0 overall record in those competitions, 6-0 this season . . . Aldinger will play in college at Virginia Military Institute . . . The Patriots were without injured midfielder Liam Anderson.