Girls’ lacrosse: Mount Hebron still has a makeup of a champion; do-or-dye wager has Chantilly rolling
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Version 0 of 1. New Mount Hebron girls’ lacrosse Coach Lindsay Menton spoke to her new team about all the change it had to embrace this spring, but her players were already preparing to deal with uncertainty. Everyone around them wondered how this perennial public school powerhouse would replace an entrenched coach and two all-Americans, all while facing a challenging non-conference schedule featuring the best teams from Anne Arundel County. “Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect,” senior Jordan Stevens said Tuesday. “But it has been seamless.” The Vikings have reason to be cautiously optimistic after upsetting two-time defending state champion Manchester Valley last weekend at their Five For Fighting tournament to cap off a fast start under Menton. Though they still must navigate through the Washington area’s toughest region (Maryland 3A/2A South), one win effectively proved any suggestions of a decline were overstated. Mount Hebron (3-0) won 15 Maryland state championships in 16 years between 1992 and 2007, and hasn’t won one since then. With Coach Trish Derwart and All-Mets Jen Giles (Maryland)and Meghan Doherty (Maryland) gone, there were huge holes to fill. Still, even though the opening of nearby Marriotts Ridge diluted the school’s talent pool in recent years, there remains an obligation to “work our best to maintain that reputation,” Menton said. Her initial strategy has been to emphasize teamwork after last year’s group went undefeated against Howard County competition only to lose to Glenelg, 8-7, in the 3A/2A South region quarterfinals. With seven Division I recruits and a nucleus of seniors back, including some playing featured roles for the first time, the Vikings rely on a more balanced approach this season. They’ve improved in transition, while emphasizing possession and patience on the attack. “We’re having a lot of fun and we feel a little underestimated after losing such crucial players like Jen and Megan last year, and I think that pushes us,” midfielder Sorana Larson said. “We really focus on working together. In years past, we focused on certain people’s strengths, but this year it’s focused on everybody being impactful.” All of these facets came together, perhaps quicker than anybody expected, in Mount Hebron’s 7-6 win over Manchester Valley. The Vikings raced out to a commanding lead behind superior ball movement and draw controls, then held on during a second-half charge. “There was no one or two people leading the game,” said Stevens, who had two goals. “We all capitalized on each other’s talents.” The end result was a confidence-boosting victory that halted Manchester Valley’s 27-game winning streak. Over the next eight days, the Vikings face the nation’s No. 1 team (McDonogh) and defending Maryland 4A/3A state champion Severna Park over the next eight days. So while Mount Hebron may have felt overlooked at times in the lead up to this season, it wasted no time reminding everyone of the lacrosse tradition that still resides in Ellicott City. “We want to use it as motivation and just show them it’s a completely positive change,” Stevens said. “It’s not going to affect us negatively like everyone else thinks. We’re just going to come back stronger than everybody is expecting.” Before the 2015 season, the Chantilly girls’ lacrosse team made a deal with Coach Victor Chen: if the Chargers won 10 games, he would have dye his hair blonde — a long shot at the time, given that they won three games combined in 2013 and 2014. Chantilly didn’t reach double-digit victories, but it did take a big step forward with a 6-9 campaign. That deal is on again this season, and after a 5-0 start, Chen’s dark hair is in jeopardy. “I think he’s more scared this year that it’s actually going to happen,” senior Christina Peters said. Chantilly has been steadily climbing the standings, improving its win total each season since 2013. It’s been a long and oftentimes frustrating process, particularly for the upperclassmen, senior Taryn Hannam-Zatz said. “Once you start getting beat by so many points it’s kind of demoralizing,” she said. But the Chargers showed signs of progress, even in their 1-14 season in 2013 and 2-13 season in 2014. Last spring the improvement manifested in the standings, and they’ve carried that momentum into this spring, with just three seniors and a deep junior class that includes Rachel Scherbenske (36 goals) and Hannah Reeves (34 goals). “I think it really helped us to keep our heads high and keep fighting and keep working hard and keep getting better,” Hannam-Zatz said. “And now we are getting that respect.” Chantilly opened the season with a win for the first time since 2011. That season-opener — a 21-20 overtime thriller against Yorktown decided on Reeves’s sudden-death goal — kicked off a five-game win streak. The Chargers maintained their perfect record in Tuesday’s 15-10 win over Westfield and are halfway to getting their coach a new hairdo. “It made it a lot more special for us to come from the absolute bottom,” Hannam-Zatz said. “It makes our team a lot closer because we’ve all gone through it together.” Good Counsel and St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes will meet for the first time in two years Saturday afternoon as part of the St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes Spring Fling. . . . Bishop Ireton is off to a 6-0 start for the third year in a row after consecutive wins over Agnes Irwin (Pa.) and Brighton (N.Y.) this week. . . . Severna Park entered the national polls this week after beating Queene Anne’s County and Severn at the South River Showcase. . . . Robinson is on a 19-game win streak dating back to last season. . . . St. Mary’s-Annapolis dropped its IAAM A opener to Notre Dame Prep last week and faces McDonogh Wednesday. 1. Good Counsel (3-0) Last Week: 1 2. St. Stephen’s/St. Agnes (3-0) LR: 2 3. Bishop Ireton (6-0) LR: 3 4. Severna Park (3-0) LR: 4 5. Marriotts Ridge (1-0) LR: 5 6. Robinson (4-0) LR: 6 7. Mount Hebron (3-0) LR: 10 8. Holy Cross (2-1) LR: 7 9. Glenelg (1-0) LR: 9 10. St. Mary’s-Annapolis (2-1) LR: 8 On the bubble: Broadneck (2-0), Severn (3-2), Langley (3-0) Records through Tuesday. |