On March 17, the McLean Girl’s Varsity Lacrosse team played their first game of the season against the Oakton Cougars on home turf. After winning their recent two scrimmages, McLean was determined to secure another victory.
“We just focused on playing our game and keeping the ball moving,” sophomore midfielder Jordan Nowinski said. “Staying aware of [where the Oakton players are] on the field helped us get into a rhythm right from the start.”
The Highlanders started strong with an early goal, but Oakton quickly pulled ahead, showing no sign of slowing down. McLean worked hard to keep their guard up on Oakton’s offense, swiftly intercepting balls and working to move the ball up the field. Even so, the first quarter ended with the Highlanders trailing by just one point, setting the stage for a close matchup.
“Every day we talk about bringing the level of our game up so we can play like a team,” Head Coach Michelle Maxwell-Gold said. “In varsity, you have to rely on each other and support each other on the field, and that’s exactly what we focused on today.”
This all changed in the second quarter when the Oakton Cougars widened their lead to 7-2 heading into halftime.
“Even though Oakton was in the lead, we didn’t lose hope,” Senior goalie Brooke Buursink said.
But, in the 3rd quarter it seemed as if the Cougars were long gone in the lead with McLean only scoring one point, 7-3. Even so, the Highlanders continued to put pressure on the Cougars’ offense and stayed relentless in doing so. The quarter ended with Oakton in the lead, 8.3.
“During the second half, we really focused on just communicating with each other and necessarily on the ball itself,” Buursink said.
And that’s when McLean really flipped the switch on Oakton. Almost as soon as the clock started ticking in the 4th quarter, sophomore midfielder Jordan Nowinski scored a goal on Oakton, making the score 8-4. Immediately after that, Nowinski assisted junior midfielder Alex Williamson, alarming the Cougars.
“Once we settled into our game and started working together, everything clicked,” Nowinski said. “We focused on passing and staying aware of each other, and that’s when we were able to make our comeback.”
Ultimately, the Highlander ended up scoring another two points in the game, but fell short to Oakton making the score 9-7. Throughout the night, McLean remained unfazed by Oakton and stayed in the fight all game long.
“Overall, I think that we played really well today,” Nowinski said. “Although we did not win, we made an incredible comeback in the 2nd half, and it shows that we improved on our communication skills.”
