Lax defeated

MAY 9, BLAZER STADIUM—

In the second round of the County Playoffs the girls' lacrosse team fell to a talented Damascus High School squad 11-9, ending their season with a mediocre record of 6-7.

The Blazers advanced from the first round of the playoffs after an exciting 16-13 double overtime win against Magruder High School on May 7 but failed to keep up the momentum against an evenly matched Damascus.

Throughout the season, the Blazers managed to stay in every game, showing great potential for next year. The Blazers will only be losing four players to graduation. The defense is losing two stalwarts in senior co-captains Brigid McCarthy and Kristina Cammen but will retain standout junior goalkeeper Anna Benfield. Benfield stopped 141 shots in only 13 games.

This year, the defense kept opponents to under ten goals per game on average. However, the main reason the Blazers outscored their opponents 143-111 was an offensive explosion that seemed to come out of nowhere.

After graduating nearly all of his scorers last year, Coach Michael Horne had to look for new contributors. This season, he found a balanced scoring attack, a system that is much harder to defend against than an offense centered around one star player, as last year's offense was.

The team can look forward to a strong offense next year. Only 34 of the 143 goals the Blazers scored this season came from seniors. Their leading scorer, junior Mairead Hunter, found the back of the net 31 times this season. Juniors Beth Gula (20 goals), Ariel Wilchek (19 goals) and Sarah Robinson (13 goals) and sophomore Lauren Finkel (14 goals) all played large roles in the Blazers' offense this season and are
expected to be substantial threats next year.

Horne is confident in his team's potential. "The juniors got a taste of success and will build from it next year," he said. "I think the whole team has high expectations."