The girls' lacrosse team put up an admirable fight against Walter Johnson High School (WJ), netting six goals against one of the most established girls' lacrosse programs in the county. But the Wildcats (5-0), who were recently ranked fourth in The Montgomery Journal, put the game away and won 13-6.
A little over a minute into the game, WJ made it clear that Blair was in for a long night. WJ shot out to a five-goal lead before senior co-captain Sara Hirschler countered for the Blazers with 14 minutes left in the half and then again two minutes later.
Blair then spent the rest of the half in control, pepping WJ's goalie, Kelsey Langlie, with point-blank shots. Langlie's stinginess in the net kept the game out of Blair's reach. Anna Benfield also came up big for Blair, notching numerous saves.
In the second half, WJ struck early once again. No more than a minute into the second half, a Wildcat received a pass on the crease and placed it behind Benfield. Thirty seconds later, a Wildcat took the ball to the goal straight from the face-off and finished it unassisted.
For the rest of the game, the Blazers displayed the same determination that they showed in wins against Gaithersburg, Einstein, Kennedy and Wheaton high schools. Blair looked impressive after the first five minutes of the second half, tallying four goals compared to the six put up by WJ. Of those six, one was scored with less than a minute remaining in the game and the other with 1.4 seconds left.
WJ kept the ball away from the Blazers' sticks for a good portion of the second half, eating lots of time off the clock. WJ had a reply to all of Blair's great plays, making it hard for the Blazers to string together the multiple goal runs that decide lacrosse games. The Blazers dropped to 4-2 on the season, with their only other loss coming against Springbrook High School on Apr 10.
Coach Mike Horne knew that the game was not going to be easy. "In order to win, we would have had to come out perfect," he said. "When you play a team like WJ, everything has to click."
Lincoln Fischer. Senior sports writer Lincoln Fischer was born in Manhattan, New York on May 1st 1985. He presently lives in Takoma Park with his mother, father and sister. His father, Craig, is an editor for Pace Publications, which produces a number of newsletters related to criminal … More »
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