Bring On Urbana

The goals came in bunches Friday afternoon as Watkins Mill continued one of its best field hockey seasons in school history, storming the Kennedy Cavaliers in a 9-0 romp in their playoff opener.

Six players got on the score sheet as the Lady ‘Rines peppered the three-win Cavs with 36 shots while ceding only one shot in return.

Senior forward Emily Sperling led the way with three goals, the first of which came less than a minute after the opening whistle. Sophomore Kylee Sklar scored seven minutes later, followed by Sara Jane Campbell less than two minutes after that. Campbell, a sophomore, sparked another three-goal outburst with a goal at the 11-minute mark, followed in quick succession by Ayelen Song and Emily Siok.

In the second half, sophomore Sarah Crews scored between Sperling’s other two goals, bringing the senior's team-leading total to 10 on the year.

The win resurrected some of the spark that had pushed the Wolverines to a 7-1-1 start to the season, said Coach Michelle Pettit. Her team's quality of play had gone a bit flat in the two games leading up to Friday's playoff: a 2-0 loss at Churchill on Oct. 15 followed by a 1-0 senior-night letdown on Tuesday to a Magruder squad that had won only one game all season.

"The aggression that my team had at the beginning of the season came back today," Pettit said.

They'll need every bit of that aggression as they move to the 3A West region semifinals Monday to face No. 2-seed Urbana at Linganore High School. The Hawks have scored 68 goals—compared to Watkins Mill's 31—while amassing a 10-3 record capped off by consecutive 10-0 thrashings of Thomas Johnson.

"I would expect them to look a lot like us. I’m looking forward to a game that’s going to be really close, really exciting," Pettit said. "I think we’ve got a really good shot at winning, and I think the girls think we’ve got a really good shot at winning."