Ten minutes left in the second quarter of the championship game and the Annandale girls fall lacrosse team is down by four goals. Coach Dan Britton calls a timeout to let the girls recover and regain focus before taking the field again. The team had just easily won the first round of the Triple Edge playoffs only an hour before this game 18-5. The Atoms went into the game with a record of 7-0, and confident that they would take home the overall win.
As the clock slowly wound down, the Atoms brought the score closer and closer with goals from seniors Kate Grandchamp, Paige Britton, Sarah Bergen and freshman Janan Gokturk.
The buzzer went off with the game stuck at a tie, 10-10. The referees called for a one minute overtime, and whichever team scored first, would be declared the winner.
Senior Paige Britton took the draw in hopes that the other team would not get anywhere near the ball. The other team got to the ball first and brought it down to the Atoms goal, attempting to score. The shot was blocked by junior goalie Kaitlin Martindale and the ball was transitioned back down to the Atoms’ attacking side. After settling down, the ball was passed around and finally scored by freshman Janan Gokturk. The Atoms joined together with their goalie, congratulating each other on their victory, cheering and exchanging hugs.
With the successful fall season under their belt, the girls plan to participate as a team in the annual Fairfax Fall Brawl Tournament held at Woodson High School, as well as playing in a Winter Triple Edge team to continue working together before the season begins. The team agrees that these extra games and time together is going to help them when the actual season begins.
“Even though not everyone showed up to every game and we had to play a man down a lot, the games were so fun,” junior Amanda Villafana said. “We all got to try out new positions and work on improving our skills and just playing together. Winning every game was also a lot of fun and a big confidence boost.”
The team ended the season with an 8-0 record, beating teams from O’Connell, National Cathedral School, Bishop Ireton, Saint John’s College HS, Stone Bridge, Potomac Falls, Paul VI and more.
“We worked really hard throughout the fall season and in the end it really paid off.,” junior Kunnica Kou said. “It makes all of us even more excited for tryouts and the upcoming spring season. We were able to work with new players who will be on the team with us this season, so it was good we got to see their strengths, and can immediately go into working on plays and conditioning once the season starts.”
