Boys' and Girls' Lacrosse Build on Unbeaten Starts

Watkins Mill lacrosse continued its resurgence this spring with a pair of big wins over Einstein on Monday night, moving the boys' and girls' squads to 4-0 on the season.

In the first game of Monday's home doubleheader, the girls’ got goals from seven players as they ran past Einstein for a 16-4 win. In the nightcap, the boys turned a close game into a second-half blowout, 11-3.

Both teams face Northwest next: the girls go to Germantown for a 7 p.m. showdown on Wednesday night, while the boys host the Jaguars at 5:45 p.m. on Thursday.

Girls

Even after another convincing margin of victory, Coach Vinnie Naylor thinks his team is still only beginning to find out how good they really are. Better passing is leading to plenty of goals (they've scored 40 in four games), but Naylor worries about the team’s inexperience between the pipes: Neither of his options at goaltender had played varsity goalie before this year.

Another question will be how the team reacts to an opponent who can match Watkins Mill’s athleticism and apply man-to-man pressure—exactly what Naylor expects to see against Northwest, which is 2-2 after beating Gaithersburg on Monday night.

"They've got a lot of fast girls," Naylor said. "They’re quick, they’re very, very athletic, so it’s going to be a real test."

• Stephanie Martinez 4 goals, 1 assist

• Alexis Rusnak 3 goals, 2 assists

• Kaylor Ficklin 3 goals

• Millie Pryphun 2 goals

• Abby Young 2 goals

• Sara Labriny 1 goal

• SaraJane Campbell 1 goal

• Kylee Sklar 1 assist

Boys

The boys’ match-up with Einstein got off to a tense and scoreless start, with several near misses before Kyle Khuen buried an outside shot with less than three seconds left in the first quarter. Einstein tied the game early in the second quarter. Watkins Mill found some offense after that but gave up another goal to go into halftime with a 4-2 lead.

During the break, Coach Randy Thompson turned to senior attacker Henry Ludgate for leadership. Ludgate responded with a goal right out of the gate, then netted two more in the third quarter to give Watkins Mill an 8-2 lead. Khuen followed that 30 seconds later with his third goal of the game. Shane Soghomonian scored two goals in the fourth quarter, giving three Watkins Mill attackers a hat trick.

"I told Henry at halftime, you gotta step up and finish and be a leader here today," Thompson said. "That’s what they’ve been doing all year long. Different guys have been stepping up; different guys have been putting it in the goal."

The boys host Northwest Thursday night then head to rival Clarksburg on Friday.

"To play three games in a week—and two back to back—is going to be a tremendous measure of where we are," Thompson said.

Northwest has lost its last two games—to Magruder 8-5 and to Gaithersburg 8-6—to leave their record at 1-3. Clarksburg is 3-1 after one-goal wins to start the season over Rockville, Northwood and Gaithersburg before falling 14-2 to Quince Orchard.

• Kyle Khuen 3 goals, 1 assist

• Henry Ludgate 3 goals, 1 assist

• Shane Soghomonian 3 goals

• Tommy Drury 2 goals

• Paul Gianfrancesco 1 assist

• Sergio Mosquera 1 assist

• Kyle Hall 1 assist