Charging toward a district title
By Dave Buschenfeldt
At a recent activities fair, rising ninth graders came to Chantilly High School to see what sports will be available for them to play when they enroll next year. Each student was given a sheet listing the district titles won by the Chargers' teams, and one sport – boys lacrosse – was noticeably blank.Coach Kevin Broderick picked up a copy of that list and showed it to his team, reminding them just what they are playing for this season.
Chantilly (12-0) took another step toward capturing its first-ever Concorde District title by defeating rival Westfield, 6-4, in Monday's district semifinal. The Chargers will face Oakton – a 5-2 winner over Robinson – Friday night in the district championship game at Robinson.
"Our guys will be excited because it's the first time ever in Chantilly that we've played for a district championship," Broderick said. "That's enough to keep us focused."
Said senior Corey Aferiat, "We're ecstatic. There's not even words to describe how excited we are. We've got to keep playing our best."
Aferiat scored four goals in Monday's win, but admitted that his team was given a bit of a wake-up call by the Bulldogs. Playing for the first time in 10 days, Chantilly looked sluggish early, struggling against Westfield's zone defense and trailing at halftime, 3-2.
"We'd been concerned about having a layoff," Broderick said. "Would we be rusty, would we have our 'A' game, and if we didn't, were we still good enough to win? I thought we were tonight. We played with composure after the initial start. I think it was a big test for us at this time."
The Chargers began attacking the Westfield zone in the second half and a goal from senior Joe Fratter and three from Aferiat gave Chantilly the two-goal win.
Before taking over as coach of Chantilly boys lacrosse in 2005, Broderick coached the Chargers' girls team for six years, winning back-to-back district championships in 2002 and 2003. Chantilly will look to add another girls lacrosse title to its trophy case Friday when the Chargers face Robinson in the girls district final.
Chantilly beat two-time defending state champion Oakton, 8-7, in Monday's semifinal to improve to 12-0 on the season. The win avenged a loss to the Cougars in last year's district final.
"It's amazing," said sophomore Liz Dunwoody, who scored three goals in the victory. "We haven't beaten Oakton in the longest time, and to beat them in a district [tournament] game is unbelievable."