Sticks thrown in the air, team charging the field and huddling around their goalie, faces beaming with unrelenting joy. This was the scene the varsity boys lacrosse team had to watch for the past two seasons having lost back-to-back Patriot District Championship games. But on May 13, the Atoms got to experience this themselves as they trounced the Woodson Cavaliers in the championship game, 17-3.

Looking to avenge a regular season loss, the Atoms took on the Cavaliers for the Patriot District title. After falling behind 3-0 in their first meeting, the Atoms were intent on not letting that happen again. Senior Andy Craig won the opening face-off, ran down the field, dumped the ball off to junior Ryan Miller who then passed to senior Nick Lalande for the goal and a 1-0 lead just 9 seconds into the game.

“Last game we went down early and never really got our confidence back in the rest of the game, so we knew it was important to have a better start this time,” Craig said.

Craig continued to dominate the face-offs in the early going and senior Nathan Miller was able to record a hat trick just four minutes into the game and give the Atoms a 4-0 lead. Lalande added one more goal in the quarter and the Atoms closed the opening period with a 5-0 lead.

“We passed the ball quickly, moved a lot off the ball and made smart decisions when we had it on offense,” Lalande said.

The offensive onslaught continued throughout the game with the Atoms taking a commanding 9-3 lead into halftime, 13-3 lead after three quarters and the 17-3 final, but it was the defense that shined and limited Woodson to its lowest scoring output against a public school of the season.

“We wanted to make sure we kept them on the perimeter,” Head Coach Bill Maglisceau said. “Once our defense understood which shoulder to get them on and keep their shots out on the perimeter, we had confidence Joe could make the stops.”

“We came out ready to play and we wanted to show that our defense is one of the strongest parts of our team,” senior captain and defenseman Bob Stevens said. “We played with a chip on our shoulder and threw a couple different defenses at them that worked really well.”

The stellar defense was led by sophomore goalie Joe Bermingham, who made save after save and even gave the team a second half boost when he laid out a Woodson attacker on the crease. Bermingham finished the game with 15 saves, and cheers of “Joe says no!” rang throughout the crowd all game.

“My mindset was to stay focused when the offense had the ball and to just make the next save, Bermingham said. “We knew we were the better team and we just needed to make the plays we are capable of making. It felt spectacular to win.”

“Joe played a great game,” Stevens said. “He stepped up for us all throughout the [district] tournament and especially in the Championship.”

When the game clock reached zero, the team threw their sticks in the air and mobbed Bermingham in front of their own goal. They were then given the Championship banner and had their picture taken before each player was announced and given their district patch. The Atoms then took a victory lap and left the field through a tunnel of fans who shared in the team’s excitement.

“It was very satisfying to win after losing the previous two meetings with Woodson and it was amazing to be able to play the way we did on a big stage,” Nathan Miller said. Miller, who is committed to playing Division I lacrosse next year at Army, scored four goals and was one of only two players (the other being senior Peter Hagen) who was on the 2008 AHS team that won the Patriot District Championship.

“[Winning the Championship] helps make the seniors feel like their hard work paid off for something,” Maglisceau said. “And for the underclassmen guys, it can give them some momentum.”

Lalande led the Atoms with 6 goals in the game, while Nathan and his younger brother Ryan Miller each scored 4. Senior Stephen Craig, sophomore Zack Lalande and junior Alec Villafana rounded out the scoring for the Atoms, each with one goal.

With the number one seed in the Patriot District secured, the Atoms faced the Thomas Jefferson Colonials, the fourth seed from the Liberty District, in the first round of the Northern Region Tournament. While the game ended too late for publication time, the Atoms were heavy favorites in the match-up.

After TJ, the Atoms will need to defeat Robinson in order to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 2008. The top three teams in the region advance to states, so the Atoms would need to advance at least to the semi-finals in order to have a chance.

“[In order to make a deep playoff run,] we need to keep getting ground balls and limit our opponents’ scoring chances,” Maglisceau said. “We need to win faceoffs, get groundballs and possess the ball.”

Their high-powered offense, combined with the solid defense shown in the District Championship, should give the Atoms a legitimate shot at advancing deep into the playoffs.