Northwest Overpowers Watkins Mill in Girls' Lax Showdown

In a battle of size versus speed, the Northwest Jaguars overwhelmed an upstart Watkins Mill squad on Wednesday night, 21-13.

The Jaguars pressed their physical advantage from the outset, powering to a 9-2 lead in the first ten minutes. Northwest won most of the groundballs, sophomore Morgan Cheripko dominated the draws and junior Tara Nicholas routinely beat her defenders with one or two decisive moves that gave her open shots from point-blank range against Watkins Mill’s tandem of inexperienced goalies.

The Wolverines came alive midway through the first half with a 7-1 run led by freshman sensation Alexis Rusnak, senior Kaylor Ficklin and senior Stephanie Martinez, who capped off the scoring streak with goals just before and just after halftime to cut Northwest's lead to 10-9.

But Nicholas and the powerful Jaguar offense would not be denied, countering with seven unanswered goals over the ensuing five minutes. Nicholas scored five of those goals and assisted on another—and finished the game with 11 goals and three assists.

"It was outsized, outpowered," said Watkins Mill Coach Vinnie Naylor. "We were intimidated by their size in the first half; you could see it. We play a different style lacrosse game. We don’t play beat-‘em-up lacrosse. And we got beat up. I give them a lot of credit."

The win moves Northwest to 3-2 on the season—an uneven performance that Coach Mike Krawczel hopes has been righted as they face Whitman tonight at home.

"We let it slip there for a little bit but we sharpened it back up," he said. "This is the first time we’ve played two good games in a row, so hopefully we can build on this and come out sharp."

Northwest posed the first real test for the much-improved Wolverines, who had jumped out to a 4-0 start to the season, their best in years.

Though the Jaguars exposed Watkins Mill’s undersized defense and inexperienced goaltending—neither of the Wolverines’ netminders played varsity goalie before this year—Naylor saw plenty to draw from of as they continue to campaign for the school's first-ever division title.

"We learned that we can come back. We learned that we can play with anybody," he said. "I told them they had nothing to hang their head about. I thought they played a fantastic game and they never quit."

Scoring Summary

Watkins Mill

• Alexis Rusnak 4 goals
• Kaylor Ficklin 3 goals
• Stephanie Martinez 3 goals
• SaraJane Campbell 1 goal
• Millie Pryphun 1 goal
• Abby Young 1 goal

Northwest

• Tara Nicholas 11 goals
• Morgan Cheripko 5 goals
• Kirsten Jensen 2 goals
• Gabby Brock 1 goal
• Taylor Cheripko 1 goal
• Payton Owen 1 goal