Falling into place
By Jason Mackey
There's never an ideal game to lose. Period. Especially if you're the storied and successful Oakton girls lacrosse program, which has won the past two Virginia AAA state titles.So after her team's 9-8 loss at Chantilly Monday night, coach Jean Counts had more than a few heartbreaks to assuage during her postgame speech.
“I told them, 'I'll take a loss in April if I can win in May,'” said a smiling and confident Counts. “I was pretty positive because I truly believe that if we had five more seconds on the clock ... it would've been tied up. I really do.”
Five different Cougars found the score sheet, led by senior Ashley Kimener's three-goal performance. Junior Blair Keffer added a pair of netters, while junior Daley Michael, senior Brittany Patriarca and junior Christina Nugent all contributed one goal apiece.
Oakton appeared poised for a comeback in the game's final minutes as Michael's marker trimmed the deficit to one with 7 minutes, 5 seconds remaining, and Keffer's second at 6:19 knotted the game at eight.
With the game tied, both teams ramped down their offensive attacks, hoping to maximize the opportunity for a game-winning goal and minimize the possibility of a turnover. After a prolonged Oakton possession, Chantilly junior Katie Stillwell scored what turned out to be the game-winning netter with 2:15 left on the clock.
Kimener, the reigning Northern Region Player of the Year, forced the issue with only 11 seconds remaining, pushing the ball up the right sideline and toward the goal.
Kimener's final push eventually fell through, and the talented goal scorer collapsed to her knees in despair as the final horn sounded.
“I think it's a lot harder to lose to a rival, obviously, and it stings more,” Counts added. “We ran out of time, but [the team] worked really hard -- harder than I have seen them work in a long time.”
Ten seniors graduated from last year's 17-1 squad, seven of whom were starters. Last year's group was so organized and autonomous, Counts claims, that she didn't even need to be at some of the practices.
“I had a team of exceptional leaders. I didn't even have to be there, and they were right on top of it,” she said. “We had a lot of graduates from last year, and it's taken a whole season to find our shoes to fill. Last year we would do a drill and then move on to the next thing, but this year we take a whole entire practice for one or two drills.
“They're learning their roles, but it's a little slower. We haven't really evolved as much as I'd like but we're getting there ... baby steps.”