Atoms Boys Lacrosse Advance to Regional Championship

After being named a high school All-American earlier this week, Nate Miller proved he deserved the accolade with an amazing 6-goal performance Tuesday night, carrying the Annandale Atoms to an 12-8 win over the Langley Saxons. The win will pin them against the powerhouse Chantilly Chargers in what promises to be an exciting regional championship since 1998. 

“We haven’t been in the regional championship since 1998,” head coach William Maglisceau said. “So we are going to take this time to reflect on what we have done, and what still needs to be done before Thursday night.” 

After winning the opening faceoff, Langley took a methodical offensive approach passing it around the Annandale net for the first two minutes of the game. When Annandale finally got possession, they got the ball right to the stick of their playmaker Nate Miller. The senior captain, who has signed a letter of intent to play for West Point Academy next season, used a series of fakes to get to his strong side before rifling his first two shots into the back of the net. He completed the hat trick three minutes later and Atoms were off and running.

Langley pulled one back, but the Atoms finished the opening quarter strong. Miller scored his fourth and fifth goal, sophomore Zach Lalande scored on a goal assist by his older brother Nick, and captain defender Bob Stevens blazed a laser in from midfield with just seconds remaining to give the Atoms a 7-1 lead at the end of the first.

The Saxons came out on fire in the second, scoring the first three goals of the period. The Saxons first team All-Region keep Andrew Spivey bounced back with a quarter of great saves, but he couldn’t stop Stephen Craig’s point blank shot on a another great pass from Nick Lalande just before the half.

 The Saxons came back with pair of goals to start the second half, but defender Peter Hagen scored on a great individual effort, then Miller scored his sixth to regain momentum for the Atoms.  The Saxons cut back into the lead two more times in the fourth, but again the Atoms responded, this time with goals from Ryan Miller and Nick Lalande. As hard as Saxons fought to get back in it, the resilient Atoms refuse to give them any chance.

“It is a sign of good character,” Maglisceau said. “We knew they were going to score goals, but instead of pointing fingers we picked each other up.”

With the win, the Atoms have clinched a spot in the Virginia State Championships which begin a week from Friday. But before then Maglisceau knows they have to take on a very tough opponent with the Northern Region title on the line. 

“Chantilly is relentless on ground balls and faceoffs,” said Maglisceau. “We will show them different defenses too, and try to get our best defenders on their playmakers.”

The Atoms face Chantilly at Robinson High School at 7 p.m. on Thursday night.

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