On Monday, May 12 at 7 p.m., the Linganore varsity girls’ lacrosse team pulled off an 8-7 victory over the Oakdale Bears in the Regional Finals playoff game at Oakdale High School.
Earlier in the lacrosse season, Linganore lost to Oakdale in a close matchup, with a final score of 14-13. Going into this match-up, The Lancers were the underdogs, so they were determined to make a mark and pull off the upset.
Linganore sophomore Courtney Chaffman believed that being the underdog played a big part in the team’s mental game.
“I think that everybody went in with the mentality of just not giving up,” Chaffman said.
Linganore came out of the gate strong and sophomore Madison Smith scored a goal within the first two minutes. Smith was a great team player and ended the game with 2 assists.
Oakdale tied it up halfway through the 1st quarter, ending the quarter with a 3-2 lead over the Lancers. After a neck-and-neck 2nd quarter, with goals from sophomores Sedona Brown and Ava Hollander, the game was tied 4-4 going into halftime.
Despite her initial nerves and the close score, junior Reagan Leader was confident going into the second half.
“It was nerve racking, but I knew that our attack was going to put the ball in the back of the net, because that’s just what they do,” said Leader.
This confident attitude is what led the Lancers to victory. The game was in the Lancers hands late in the 4th quarter, and they sealed the victory when sophomore Kim Blaine forced a turnover late in the game.
Freshman Megan Coccia had only positive things to say about the performance by sophomore Kim Blaine.
“She played a huge role in the win by sealing the win with her steal,” Said Coccia.
The Lancers displayed a great deal of teamwork throughout the game. They racked up a total of 5 assists: 1 by sophomore Laila Griffis, 1 by Zoe Lange, 2 by Smith and 1 by Hadley Robertson. Brown led the offensive attack by scoring 3 goals. Ava Hollander scored two goals as well.
Freshman goalie Sadie Grabowsky was on lock down in the goal, with an impressive 10 saves.
All this teamwork led Linganore to a 8-7 victory against Oakdale and fourth consecutive regional championship victory.
