On Friday, May 15, the McLean Highlander girls lacrosse team took on the Langley Saxons in the first round of the Liberty District tournament. The Highlanders were coming off an overall successful season, but an unfortunate last game loss against Yorktown. They were looking for a reset, and a win against their rival would provide that.
“Ẅe worked really hard to fix our mistakes from the last regular season game to hopefully come out on top,” sophomore defender Bryn Sandberg said.
The Highlanders started the game with two quick goals, showing the rigorous prep was paying off. McLean held off the Saxons throughout the quarter, not letting them capitalize on any chances and running a tight defense with goalie Brooke Buursink at the helm. The Highlanders capped off the quarter with one more goal to end the first 3-0.
“The team felt really good going into the second quarter of the game with the lead,” Sandberg said. “But to win the game, we needed to keep our momentum going to maintain that lead.”
McLean kept the momentum flowing in the second quarter, scoring a goal 14 seconds in after a masterful draw. The game began to slow down as McLean dropped back into a more defensive style of play. McLean earned an eight-meter shot and immediately came through with another goal. Langley called a timeout, leading them to switch up their game plan, and although they scored two unanswered goals, the first half ended 5-2, McLean up.
“We focused on each quarter individually and kept the mindset of the score being 0-0,” Junior Attack Sarah Winston said. “We try to keep possession and always make the best passes we can, knowing we can drop back into defense if something goes wrong.”
The third quarter was more dominant by McLean, with their offense outplaying Langley in every instance and scoring two more goals. Langley was on the back foot throughout the quarter, and although they scored one goal, they seemed like the weaker team. The Highlanders controlled the ball in the midfield for the rest of the quarter, not giving up any chances.
The Highlanders were a little less in control throughout the fourth, allowing Langley to score two more goals. After timeouts and much discussion, McLean shifted plans and scored one more to solidify the win, finishing off the first round with a convincing 8-5 victory.
“Our next game is Yorktown and even though we lost, we are still improving and practicing every day,” Winston said. “This is the furthest anyone has made it on the team, so we are all really excited and just want to play our game.”
