Boys' lacrosse falls to the Cougars

On a crisp Wednesday evening, Blair's boys' lacrosse team (1-1) fell to the Quince Orchard Cougars (2-0) at home by a score of 16-4. Coming off a win the previous weekend against Richard Montgomery the Blazers entered the game full of confidence, but by the end of the first period,they were losing 7-0.
As Quince Orchard settled in at the beginning of the first quarter, the Blazers valiantly fought back. However, intricate passing from the Cougars led them closer and closer to the goal until, just a minute in, they opened the scoring with a hard shot past Blair goalie Ashe Durban. Despite a tough defense led by Eduardo Hernandez, the Cougars managed to find the back of the net six more times before the quarter ended.

The second period opened with more of the same. Quince Orchard's constant pressure allowed them to continue their scoring streak, while the Blazers struggled to find their way out of their own half. The team's misery was only compounded when, late in the quarter, a Quince Orchard forward intercepted an attempted back pass to the Blair keeper and quickly slotted it into the net. By the end of the half, the score was 14-0 Quince Orchard.

"14 in the first half is not what we expected at all," coach Christopher Brown said. "We just don't have the experience to deal with a team like that yet."

The Blazers came out of halftime looking refreshed. The team's best spell of possession yet ended with their first goal of the match, scored by senior Eyal Li. The Blazers managed to continue this pressure, slowly working their way back into their offensive third. Midfielders Ahrdesheer Mudd, Alexander Boris, and Yonis Blanco all managed to find the back of the net for Blair in the half, while the defensive lineup held the Cougars to only two goals.

"I think we got out of our heads for the second half," Scribner said, "it became more about playing the game for the game."

Coach Brown agreed, attributing the team's re-energized attack to a shift in mindset. "I think the kids started having fun," he said. "They're a hell of a team. With confidence and experience they'll be able to handle opponents like this better."

The good news is that while the match was a regular season game, Quince Orchard is not in the same regional division as Blair. This means that it counts for the team's overall record, but will not affect their hunt for the division trophy.

"Quince Orchard's probably the second hardest team we're scheduled to play this season," Scribner said, "and we're still a really young team as a whole. We're still playing a lot of six-on-six games in practice to build team chemistry."