By Ryan Minkrmink@digitalsports.comWalter Johnson sophomore
Rachel Skay never felt her team couldn’t beat Quince Orchard’s girls lacrosse team.
Sure, Walter Johnson had lost in its two previous big-time games. And sure, Walter Johnson hasn’t had half the success the Cougars had the past several years.
But Skay knew how bad she and the rest of the Wildcats wanted this win. And thus, she wasn’t at all surprised when Walter Johnson beat Quince Orchard 7-5 Wednesday night on the road.
“We knew we could win it,” Skay said. “We can beat anybody.”
Skay scored three goals, all in the first half, as Walter Johnson (6-2) came back from a 3-0 deficit to start the game. Junior goalie
Yasmeen Ajdari was also integral with 13 saves.
“We know that we’re a good team and we’ve worked so hard and just come so close to those high-up teams,” Ajdari said. “It just feels great to beat them.”
The Wildcats had fallen to Wootton, 14-12, in overtime after losing a three-goal lead with two minute remaining on March 30. Then, just this past Friday, Walter Johnson lost its second game to Churchill 12-11 when its own comeback effort fell just short.
“Those definitely were the biggest heart-breakers ever so I think it just gave us a big fire to come out and kill, basically,” Ajdari said.
After the Churchill loss, Walter Johnson went back to the drawing board to fix defensive problems and it certainly showed Wednesday as the Wildcats held Quince Orchard to just one goal over a span of nearly 34 minutes.
The Cougars, who had suffered just one loss this season to Damascus after reaching last year’s regional semifinals, scored their first goal in just one minute, 43 seconds off the stick of senior
Alissa Peterson. Peterson stuck in another just three minutes later and the Cougars scored a third with 9:03 left in the first half.
Skay answered for Walter Johnson’s first goal three minutes, 16 seconds later and again three minutes, 35 seconds after that. Junior Sarah Langlie notched one of her two goals with one minute left in the first half and Skay scored again with 32 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 4-3 lead going into halftime.
“When we’re trailing we just want it more, I think. That just gives us fire and gets us a little angry,” Skay said. “Right after those three goals we turned it on and showed them we’re a great team.”
Just to show it was no fluke, senior center Meagan Brennan scored just 22 seconds into the second half and Walter Johnson never relinquished the lead.
The Wildcats have another big game coming this weekend, the make-up of what was going to be Tuesday’s game against Bethesda-Chevy Chase. And now they don’t just feel like they belong with the counties’ top dogs, they have proof they do.
