GIRLS LACROSSE: Vikings trip up Warriors

The Western Albemarle girls’ lacrosse team hosted Loudoun Valley in the VHSL quarterfinals on Saturday, and after falling behind early, battled back and came within inches of a hard-fought victory.
The Vikings prevailed in overtime, 9-8, ending the Warriors’ season.
Loudoun’s Michelle Zakrewski scored two goals and Shannon Harley added another to give the Vikings an early 3-0 lead, and it appeared as if the Warriors would be in for a long afternoon.
Freshman midfielder Ellen Shaffrey scored, and that’s when Western’s underclassmen began pulling the Warriors back into the contest.
Trailing 4-1, Western got goals from junior Bridgett Lynn (off an assist by sophomore Abby Wheeler), and sopomore Jordan Haws. Then seniors Stephanie Warren and Mary Schwartz got into the act, as Western scored four straight goals in less than three minutes to take a 5-4 lead. The Vikings answered with another goal to knot the score at 5-5 at the half.
“I was really proud of our team effort at that point,” said Schwartz, “just to work our way through and come back to take the lead. I think the underclassmen are awesome, they play with so much heart.”
In the second half, Abby Wheeler scored a crafty goal off a perfect Ally Swanson assist to give the Warriors the lead three minutes in. Loudoun’s Courtney Ogelvee answered again, tying it up, but Schwartz responded 30 seconds later to put Western up 7-6 with 10:19 to play.
The Vikings controlled possession for a good five minutes as the half was winding down, and had several opportunities to score, but WAHS senior goalie Colleen Cozart came up with a handful of big saves to help the Warriors maintain the lead.
Just when Western caught a glimpse of heading on to the state semifinals, Loudoun’s Shannon Harkey got one past Cozart for her second goal of the day with just 22 ticks left on the clock to force overtime.
Having two three-minute extra session periods to decide the winner, Schwartz wasted no time and scored her third goal of the day to give Western an 8-7 advantage with 1:39 left in the first OT period.
Going after an important ground ball with just over a minute to play, Cozart made contact with a Vikings player in the head, and by rule the referees gave her a three-minute penalty. As a result, coach Nancy Haws turned to little-used backup keeper Caitlin Boles, who had been injured for several weeks with a broken thumb, and was still not 100 percent.
Five seconds later, Vikings midfielder Jessie Harkey scored on a restart right in front of the goal, and tied the score at 8-8. Zakrewski then scored her third goal with 2:12 left in the second OT, and Western’s final opportunity came up short as the Vikings ultimately ran out the clock.
“Bless her heart,” Haws said of Boles. “She went in there and you’ve got to give her credit for stepping in and being a body in the goal. We’re really proud of her, it takes a lot of guts in that situation.”
“Most of the seniors got a little teary about it because they realized, with graduating last night, and all the culmination of everything, it’s tough.”
Schwartz spoke of her future plans as she will attend George Mason in the fall, and will be a member of the lacrosse team.
“I’m really excited, mostly just to get better because at this point I don’t think I’ve peaked,” Schwartz said. “I’m really excited to learn more.”
The senior-laden Warriors will be without seven starters next season, but Haws pointed out the mark they made.
“Mary’s going on to play, the other girls have great futures in lacrosse and in school, so we’ll celebrate that, what all they’ve done and accomplished, it’s a great accomplishment,” Haws said.