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Schools

Statesmen Can't Hold Off Chargers

Best season in Marshall High School Girls Lacrosse history ends in regionals

After a season of many firsts, Marshall High School's girls lacrosse team met their match last night with a 15-9 loss to to the Chantilly Chargers.

The loss meant the end of the road for the Statesmen, who ended the best season in their program's history at 10-5.

After giving up the first two goals of the game, the Statesmen scored three straight to take a surprise 3-2 lead early on. Kelly Brown scored in between a pair of Rachel Waldron goals that let Marshall take the lead with 14 minutes left in the first half.

"I think we woke up after those two quick goals and realized the strength of our opponent,” Marshall Head Coach Nicole Clinton said.  “The girls held strong and I was really proud of the way they got back into the game.”

Unfortunately for the Marshall faithful, the region’s leading goal scorer Kacey Norwood scored a quick pair for the Chargers and Chantilly never looked back.

The 17-1 Chargers proved why they are among the region's elite, responding with a 3-0 run of their own.  Waldron did her best to keep her team in the game  with a remarkable run  and a powerful finish to cut the deficit to 6-4.

“She’s a phenomenal player,” Clinton said of her star junior, who finished the game with five goals.  “And as you saw tonight she is very hard to stop."

So too was Chantilly’s Shannon Strittmatter, who had a goal and an assist just before the half to double the Charger advantage to 8-4.

Chantilly also scored the first four goals of the second half, and another pair of  Waldron goals did little to get Marshall back into the contest.

They would, however, end the season on a high note, scoring the last three goals of the game.  Brown scored her second on an assist from Natasha Glennie, and Katherine Van Winkle assisted Annie Greenwood before scoring a goal of her own.

“We’re a really young team,” head coach Nicole Clinton said after the game.  “I think we got rattled on the big stage.”

Clinton said she was pleased with the season and at what this year's success could mean for future years.

“We had set a team goal to make it to the regionals, and we surpassed that,” Clinton said.  “We are only losing one senior, and I am very excited to see what a team, many of whom have only been playing lacrosse for a few months or a year, can do with another year of experience.”

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