On May 6, Linganore girls’ varsity lacrosse took on the Middletown Knights for the second time in the Frederick Central Maryland Conference County Championship. 

After a highly exciting game, the Lady Lancers fell to the Knights in overtime after being tied 12-12 at the end of regular time. 

The Middletown Knights reigned victorious after a sudden death goal ( a free position shot or penalty shot in lacrosse from the 8-meter circle) in just three minutes during overtime. With a final score of 13-12, the Lady Knights went home champions.

During the first meeting of the regular season, Middletown scored a win. Coming into the championship, the Lancers used the experience from the first match up as a tool to predict what they were up against and fix the mistakes from the first game.

“They’re an amazing team, so we knew we had to pull out all the stops to make it a good game,” starting Junior attacker Reese Wallich said.

With a positive attitude and enthusiasm, the girls continued to pull out all the stops to come back from a slow start that caused them to fall behind. The Lancers caught up to a point where they even held the lead. 

Coming into this game, players felt excitement; a positive attitude was one of the key components they needed to be successful during the game. 

“I felt really confident coming into the game on Saturday,” starting midfielder freshman Reagan Leader said. “Our team had so much adrenaline and were so pumped for this game. We have really come together as a team, and that has helped us feel like we could compete with anyone.” 

After the championship game, the team felt they could compete with anyone, which is exactly what the team needed as they approached the playoffs.

The Lancers will face new and old teams in the playoffs for a regional title, including the Tuscarora High School Titans and the Thomas Johnson High School Patriots. They have faith in making it far in the postseason.

“The future and playoffs are very exciting because I have a lot of faith in these girls and this team, and this game was just a step of the way and a real lesson to help us improve and conquer the teams we will see in the playoffs,” coach Dean Coccia said. 

While looking toward the future is important, it is also important to reflect on the past. For the girls varsity lacrosse team, this means looking back at their performance in the CMC Championship game to see what went wrong and what may help them become better players. 

“Looking back, I would probably change my draw game and adapt more to what they were doing, so I could get the draw,” Wallich said. 

Getting the draw during the game is similar to getting the first win, as it sets you up on offense with an upper hand. 

Linganore will play their first playoff game on Friday, May 12 at Linganore against the Thomas Johnson Patriots. Come out and support the Lady Lancers during their post season schedule!