The Patriots finished the 2013 regular season with an 11-2 record along with a number one seed to start the District Tournament.

Going into the season, Albemarle was projected to finish fourth in the District, yet they defied expectations and finished undefeated in District play.

“Everyone picked Albemarle fourth in the district. It was CHS [Charlottesville] number one, Western number two, Monticello number three, than we were number four,” junior Nate Gaspar said.

However, CHS struggled with a 7-6 regular season record.

“This year it’s CHS [for biggest District rival] because everyone predicted them to be number one in the district,” Gaspar said.

Prior to the district tournament, Albemarle was the number one overall seed. Yet they fell short in the semi-finals, losing to WAHS 4-5.

The Pats post-season dreams are still alive, though, since by winning the District regular season they received an automatic bid to Regionals.

Albemarle fell to Salem last year, which ended their post-season early. When the Patriots looked for revenge earlier this year, they came up short, 15-12.

“Salem is a strong team, but they are a team we expect to beat. We played a terrible game against them and still managed to keep it close. We are a completely different team now than we were then,” senior Ryan Ramey said.

However, the Patriots would rally off the loss and go on a seven game winning streak. Victims of this streak included: E.C. Glass, who are the defending State runner up, district rivals Western Albemarle, and cross-town rivals Charlottesville. “That [seven game winning streak] just kept giving us more and more confidence,” Ramey said. “We all really believe that we can do big things in the post-season this year.”

Albemarle’s streak was cut short by St. Christopher’s in a home blowout 11-3.

“They’re [St. Christopher’s] a private school,” said Gaspar. “So that was a pretty rough game.”

Albemarle will have their work cut out for them on their road to States. With many great Lacrosse schools in Virginia, the road is always bumpy.

“We have our eyes on the state title and our biggest roadblock is going to be Langley or Battlefield,” Ramey said.

Last year Albemarle lost 14 experienced seniors and will lose 11 more after this season. What AHS misses in size they hit on experience.

“We are a much closer team this year than we were last year,” Ramey said.

The Patriots have also become a more collective unit with a “We not me” mentality.

“Nobody cares about their stats, they just play hard,” Crist said.

Albemarle will continue their post-season run into Regionals with a home match-up on May 21.