Vikings, Bruins Advance to Cardinal District Finals

Photo Galleries: Forest Park vs. Potomac (134 photos); Woodbridge vs. Freedom (104 photos)
Video Galleries: Forest Park vs. Potomac (16 videos); Woodbridge vs. Freedom (21 videos)

With victories in the Cardinal District boys lacrosse semifinals on Wednesday night, the Forest Park Bruins and Woodbridge Vikings are set to meet for the third time this year with the district championship on the line on Thursday night at C.D. Hylton High School. During the regular season, the Bruins outscored the Vikings 37-22 to earn a two-game season sweep. Both teams, however, aren’t taking much stock in regular-season results.

“It’s tough, every time you play a team, it get’s harder to beat them the next time,” said Forest Park head coach Bud Sichler, whose team is currently undefeated against district opponents after their 7-2 win over Potomac. “That also sometimes makes it challenging. Beating teams by a lot of
goals, it’s hard to get focused. In the playoffs, every game
counts.”

The two teams first meeting of the year, at 14-10 victory for the Bruins on March 30, was much closer than Forest Park’s 23-12 dismantling of the Vikings on April 23.

“I don’t care if we lose every other time during the year, districts is what matters,” said Woodbridge junior captain Drew Bouchard, who scored three goals with two assists in the Vikings’ 11-6 win over Freedom. “Obviously, we wanted to beat them earlier in the season, but in districts is when it counts.”

In the first game of the night, the Bruins used a stifling defense to hold the Panthers scoreless in 3-of-4 quarters. As expected, leading the charge on the defensive side of the ball was junior Tracy Armstrong.

“He must have cleared the ball 15 times down the field,” said Sichler, who asked the physical Armstrong to hold back on the hits against the Panthers. “We talked a lot of about that because he likes to hit. We wanted to play the ball. He did exactly what I asked him to do. The higher level of lacrosse that you play, the less hitting there is. Anybody can run around and hit somebody and knock them down. The question is, can they pick up the ball and go to the goal? That’s what I try and emphasis with my players.”

Senior midfielder Tyler Jones lead the way on offense for the Bruins, scoring a game-high four goals. Senior Nate Cofsky, junior Brian Padgett and senior Corey Ferguson each added goals in the victory. Schiler, however, was not totally pleased with his team’s performance. 

“Unfortunately, when you are playing in this environment, sometimes you don’t play as good as you should play. Potomac played a good game. Hopefully we’ll play a better game tomorrow,” he said. “Some days you’re up and some day you’re not. They’re 18-year-old boys. Some days they come to play and some days not so good.”

Woodbridge’s coaching staff also thought that they got a lackluster performance from their squad against Freedom. 

“Our offense didn’t come out and play like they should have,” said Woodbridge assistant coach Chris Gellner. “We have an amazing offense and it didn’t come out right away like it should have. Our offense came out weak and it translated right into our defense. We are a very offensive team and if the offense doesn’t come out, the whole team doesn’t come out.”

The Vikings’ offensive trio of Bouchard, senior David Estoclet and Josiah Walczuk still put up numbers, with Estoclet and Walczuk each adding two goals to Bouchard’s three. 

Woodbridge also dealt with significant injuries on Wednesday night, as senior Brandon Downs and sophomore Michael Herrity made trips to the hospital after the first quarter. Downs was hit with a ball in pregame warmups and had to leave the game in the first when his adhesive sutures didn’t stop the bleeding. Herrity, who scored twice in the first, left the game with a dislocated shoulder. 

Lackluster play or not, the two top seeded teams in the district will now face off in the Cardinal District finals. 

“It’s going to be interesting. It’s not Forest Park from a year before. They are a team that can be beat. If we show up and play the way that we know how to with our offense and our defense clicks, it can be our game,” said Woodbridge head coach Joseph Campagna. “I just hope that we come out and be the Woodbridge team that we are supposed to be. If we come out and do what we are supposed to, we’ll be victorious.”

Email: pfrommelt@digitalsports.com

Forest Park 7, Potomac 2
FOREST PARK (7) — Goals: Tyler Jones (4), Nate Cofsky (1), Corey Ferguson (1). Assists: Nate Cofsky (2), John Kolar (2), Corey Ferguson (1), Freddie Karsten (1). POTOMAC (2) — Goals: Andrew Zelms (1), Terrance Kennedy (1). Assists: Jason Will (1), Terrance Kennedy (1).

Woobridge 11, Freedom 6
WOODBRIDGE (11) — Goals: Drew Bouchard (3), Josiah Walczuk (2), David Estoclet (2), Francis Wilson (2), Michael Herrity (2). Assists: Drew Bouchard (2), Zack Goble (1), Joey Ruiz (1), Josiah Walczuk (2), Mark Flores (1), David Estoclet (1), Michael Herrity (1). FREEDOM (6) — Goals: Tre Brinson (3), Maurice McNiel (2), Walter Gomez (1). Assists: Tre Brinson (3), Maurice McNiel (1).

Become a fan on Facebook at DigitalSports Prince William and follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/PWDigitalSports.