By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com
There was a bit of concern among Churchill’s girls lacrosse team that the girls’ hot start would be cooled down over the long Spring Break.
That couldn’t be further from the truth. Churchill notched another quality win Friday afternoon with a 12-11 victory over Walter Johnson.
Led by junior Zoe Kabelac’s five goals, the Bulldogs are now 6-0 with wins over last year’s regional champion Wootton and this year’s up-and-coming power Walter Johnson.
“We worked hard to get here and we just wanted to keep this,†Kabelac said. “We wanted to prove to everyone we could really stay with it all season.â€
Kabelac, who is typically a very quiet player, told first-year Coach Christen Pena-Ariet before the game that she really wanted to win this one.
“She always has the athletics, but she was mentally ready to go for the game,†Pena-Ariet said.
Kabelac scored Churchill’s final two goals of the second half to give the Bulldogs a one-goal lead heading into the second half. She then scored three more goals in the second half to keep Walter Johnson at bay.
Sophia Ein also chipped in two goals in the second half and senior Angela Biciocchi notched her third goal.
Biciocchi said Walter Johnson was better than she expected. Then again, her own team is better than she thought it would be as well.
“I didn’t even think we were going to get past 3-0 to be honest,†Biciocchi said. “I wasn’t expecting it, but actually this year’s team is a lot better than we were last year because we’re all pretty much equally athletic. There’s more speed.â€
Walter Johnson scored three straight goals in the final minutes but ran out of time in the end. The Wildcats were led offensively by senior attacker Tess Petesch with five goals and fellow senior attacker Abby Bieber with three goals.
It’s the second tough loss for Walter Johnson this season. The Wildcats lost to Wootton in overtime earlier this year after giving up a three-goal lead in the final two minutes.
“We have to win these games,†first-year Coach Jen Greenberg said. “Lost these by one is not going to get you there.â€
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