On Thu., Mar. 27, 2014 the Girls’ Lacrosse Team travelled to Howard High School to take on the Lions in a close game. The Lady ‘Cats battled hard to achieve a 13-12 victory.
In the first half, the Bobcats and Lions were stuck trading possessions. Sophomore Bekah Riley broke the stalemate for the Bobcats with a goal early in the first half. Two more goals were scored by Senior Captain Cassidy Jones and Freshman Anna Farley to make the game 3-0. The Lions then stormed back and scored two straight goals to cut the Bobcat lead to one. The Lions then received back to back yellow cards to allowing the Bobcats to go up a man. Sophomore Emily McQuay capitalized on the advantage to make the score 4-2 Bel Air. After the Lions draw control, a defensive turnover caused by Sophomore Natalie Neff lead to Cassidy Jones marking her second goal of the game to make the score 5-2. After the Bobcats won the ensuing draw goal, Emily McQuay cut through the middle to score her second of the game, extending the Bobcat lead to 4. The Lions went on a three goal streak, but Junior Shannon Williams ended the run by tallying her first goal on the day to make the score 7-5. Before the end of the half, the Bobcats scored two more goals; one came from Sophomore Sam Keesey and the other from Cassidy Jones. The ‘Cats ended the half ahead 9-5.
Starting the second half, Junior Sam Keesey began the scoring to increase the Bobcat lead to 5. Due to another yellow card violation, the Bobcats had a man up advantage for the rest of the game. Despite the hindrance, the Lions surged back with a comeback effort; they scored four unanswered goals to bring the game within one. After a Bobcat time out, the ‘Cats answered the terminated the uncontested Howard streak. Freshman Gabi Hall found the back of the net to take a two-goal lead. The Lions answered with two goals of their own to make the score 11-10. After a Lions time out, the teams each scored two goals. For the Bobcats, goals came from Shannon Williams and Cassidy Jones. With time running out, the Lions held the ball to hopefully get the last shot of the game. Senior Goalkeeper Lucy Loughlin stepped up and saved the last shot of the game to secure the Bobcat win 13-12 over the Lions.
The defensive unit stood strong for the Bobcats, causing ten total turnovers. Goalkeeper Lucy Loughlin came up with six saves on the day.
“As a team, I think we did [a good job] maintaining our lead,” said Senior Captain Tori Grglewski. “We have a lot to work on before our next game but we came out with a win. I was proud of our team for never giving up.””
“I think we played extremely well for what we had to work with. Having two prior game experiences and being placed in game situations we haven’t faced before was challenging but we were able to overcome the odds and most importantly stay together as a team,” stated Senior Captain Cassidy Jones. “We’ve practiced hard for weeks and everyone is working hard on becoming better lacrosse players. It’s going to be a great season and it’s only just begun.”
The ‘Cats move to 1-2 on the season and travel to Edgewood take on the Rams on Mon., Mar. 31, 2014 at 3:30 P.M.