MORGANTOWN — Sometimes, good things come to those who wait.
After a delay of two hours from a pair of intense thunderstorms that drenched Pony Lewis Field Thursday night, the Morgantown girls’ lacrosse team finally took the field to close out their regular season against Fairmont Senior, and their performance was well worth the wait. The No. 7 Mohigans jumped out to a quick five-goal lead and never looked back, dispatching the Polar Bears in dominating fashion with a 20-9 victory.
MHS (7-7) changed their configuration and strategy on face-offs after struggling in this vital department for much of the year, and the new system paid off immediately, as the Mohigans enjoyed a 17-12 advantage on draws over FSHS (2-12).
“We knew we were consistently losing draws, and needed to get better,” admitted Mohigans head coach Brian Reed. “So we’ve worked hard in practice, moved people around, and it made a big difference for us tonight. We will continue to tweak things depending on our opponents, but it was really good to find success in that part of our game.”
And in lacrosse, possession is one of the main keys to winning, but Morgantown did more with their offensive chances than simply control the ball. The Mohigans took advantage of turnovers and their team speed to score several goals in transition while also pressuring the Polar Bears defense with aggressive moves and decisive cuts off the ball. The results were indicative, as they led 6-2 after the first quarter, 11-6 at the half, 15-7 after three, and finished off their traditional rivals with five more scores in the final frame. Seniors Mayleen Monroy and Bailley Howell each had hat tricks and two assists to lead in scoring. Emy Leshko and Ella Kupel also scored three goals, while senior Addy Zizzi had two goals and one helper, Hannah Staley and Lilly Staples each had a pair of goals, Shae Nethken had a goal and an assist, and Sloan Coombs netting one goal. Senior Mylee Cooper made 7 saves in goal for the Mohigans.
“We attacked tonight, and were very active in our offensive sets,” Reed said. “We have settled with staying on the perimeter too often this season, and I was very happy with how we forced their defense to work, and how we took advantage of openings as soon as we saw them. And there were lots of assists, which means we were very unselfish and looked for open lanes and open players for better shots. It was a nice performance for us heading into the playoffs.”
Although the win brought Morgantown’s record up to just .500, several early-season close losses – four by a single goal – sets the Mohigans up to perhaps be what every team wants to be heading into the postseason.
Dangerous.
“Our team hung together through that tough stretch,” Reed noted, “thanks in large part to our seniors (Howell, Zizzi, Cooper, Monroy, Isa Taylor, Maddie Crum, and Natalie Esposito), and now we definitely feel like our team is trending up at the right time. We’ll take each game as it comes, and give it all we have. We’re looking forward to being a tough out, to playing hard, gritty, determined lacrosse, to have a chance to make some noise in the playoffs – and to keep playing.”
The Mohigans open the postseason on the road at Buckhannon-Upshur next Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m.
