Preps Plus

Western Albemarle's Matt Galvin is just a little bit into his equipment. All right, maybe more than a little bit. Galvin, one of the Warriors' senior attackmen, is something of a streaky player. In the Jefferson District championship against Salem last Thursday, Galvin didn't manage a goal. But in the Warriors' 15-10 Region II semifinal win over Heritage Monday, Galvin found his stroke with a four-goal, one-assist performance. The senior's reasoning? Not better passing or capitalizing on opportunities. Not extra hours working on his shot. Nope, none of that - he just made an adjustment to his stick's pocket three days ago. "Oh, I switched sticks," Galvin said casually after the Monday night win. "It's the same head, but a different pocket, I went to the traditional (strung with leather and string) look, the classic. I was using mesh before. I used traditional when I was younger so I wanted to go back to it." Galvin is still adjusting to his new pocket, which produces more whip (down force out of the stick) than the mesh the senior had been using. On one Galvin attempt that was clearly evident as the ball went straight down out of the stick and rocketed back up into the air and over the goal. "I've got to get used to it because it's whipping down a lot, especially on bounce shots," Galvin said. But his head coach, Hunter Price, said that Galvin is being a little misleading. "Matt Galvin is a lacrosse rat, don't let him fool you," Price said. "He's always on the lacrosse field shooting either after practice or on the weekend. But he's always fixing or working with his stick, always trying the new age stuff. But that's Galvin." Galvin will get to give his new pocket configuration a go on Wednesday in the Region II finals against Broad Run at Western Albemarle.