For five straight seasons, the regular season has unfolded the same way for the Yorktown Patriots boys lacrosse team.
Almost by design, the high-school squad has compiled a losing record in the early going as it plays through a difficult schedule, then rebounds nicely and starts consistently winning matches.
This year, Yorktown lost its first two games, but now stands 9-3 overall thanks to a current seven-match winning streak.
The Patriots’ latest victory was a 14-7 non-district win over the host and a perennial strong Oakton Cougars squad the night of April 28.
Yorktown rallied twice to come away with the victory. The Patriots’ defense tightened after falling behind 6-5 in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, Yorktown dominated possession in the final period, led by the multiple-goal scoring of junior midfielder Alex Randisi. He had five goals in the win.
Yorktown senior goalie Nicky Palma made some big saves in the final period.
The loss snapped a five-game Oakton winning streak.
“Oakton is a young, solid team that is well-coached,” Yorktown coach Greg Beer told ARLnow.
Trailing 1-0, Yorktown called a time out. When play resumed, the Patriots scored three quick goals.
“We told them to play lacrosse and have fun,” Beer said of the time-out discussion. “We have a lot of depth on offense. In the second half we got more aggressive, and on defense, too.”
After losing its first two games to the perennial power Madison Warhawks and Robinson Rams, the Patriots have lost just once since.
“We always want to play tough out-of-district teams like Madison and Robinson early on our schedule, because that is useful for us,” Beer said. “That lets us know where we are as a team and makes us better. We aren’t the same team in March as we are in June.”
In addition to defeating Oakton, other big wins for Yorktown this spring have been against Battlefield, Cosby, Westfield, Chantilly and West Springfield. Cosby (8-2) finished second in the Virginia High School League’s Class 6 state tournament last season.
The most recent season Yorktown didn’t start with a losing record over its first few games was 2021, when the Patriots won the Class 6 state crown with an undefeated 16-0 mark.
Yorktown’s roster this spring is led by a dozen seniors, including captain and attack Eli Pilch, a top goal-scorer. Junior attack, leading scorer and Penn State lacrosse commit Nate Randles is another captain along with junior defender Alex Len.
Other top seniors are attack Mikey Cowan, midfielder Hudson Fang and defenders Truman Becknell, P.J. Cooper, Jonah McMahon, Colin Damato, Owen Lefton, Kostas Alexis and Caden Henault. Junior Peyton Tien is another top defender, and junior J.P. Overand is a goalie.
Yorktown’s scoring is led by Randles and Cowan, but overall is balanced. There are nine players who have scored five or more goals, including sophomore midfielders Xavier Alford and Logan Kaetzel.
Randles entered the game against Oakton with 30 goals and 33 assists. Cowan had 18 goals through the Oakton game. Randisi and Pilch had nearly 20 each and junior midfielders Andrew Sacks, Quinn Jones and Carter Eckle were also top scorers.
In the 16-3 win against Herndon, nine different players scored goals with Randles, Kaetzel and Jones each scoring three and junior midfielder Justin White having two.
In the 14-0 victory over Wakefield, Eckle had four goals and two assists.
Yorktown had scored 153 total goals through the Oakton match.
The Patriots have three matches remaining on their regular-season schedule, all against district rivals. By winning all three, Yorktown will finish first in the league standings and be the top seed in the district’s postseason tournament.
Yorktown has won the past five district tournaments.
