Passersby on the sidewalk in front of Norfolk Academy on Friday evening could glance through a picture window and see dance students practicing ballet moves in a mirrored room. But those drifting down the pavement after watching the nearby Tidewater Conference boys lacrosse final had already seen poetry in motion, for the host Bulldogs fired on all cylinders in a 15-6 thumping of Nansemond-Suffolk Academy.

It wasn’t so much that the Saints faltered. They were just overmatched against a more accomplished foe. Norfolk Academy’s players may put their shorts on one leg at a time, but once they’ve done so and taken the field, they move and think faster than any rivals on the local lacrosse scene.

“That’s our game the way it’s meant to be played,” said an admiring Ian Patrick, NSA’s coach and a former Norfolk Academy teacher. “I don’t think anyone we’ll face next week (in the state Division II playoffs) will even come close to being as good a team as them.”

Thank goodness, because the Bulldogs performed exactly as advertised Friday. Carter Moore won 17 of the 22 faceoffs, goalkeeper Conner Marr anchored a strong defense and the NA attack ran circles around NSA’s longstick defenders.

So quick and precise was the Bulldogs’ passing that their first four scorers each had enough time to deliberately shoot and were never stick- or body-checked while doing so.

“You play a team like that, you have to be super hot to have a chance and we weren’t,” said Patrick, whose squad dropped to 11-5.. “We knew if we had any flaws in our zone defense, they’d be exposed today. That wasn’t fun to deal with for this game, but we learned a lot and it was great from a teaching perspective.”

NSA goaltender C.J. White did the best he could under the circumstances with which he was confronted and was chosen as the tournament’s outstanding defensive player. Attackmen Will Crenshaw and Carter Pearson were part of the all-conference team, which was announced after the final.

Norfolk Academy led 4-0 after six minutes and 9-2 at halftime. Pearson and Sam Rapaport each had two goals for NSA, which also received tallies from Crenshaw and Adam Clark. Ryan Ross led the Bulldogs with four goals.