With high expectations coming into the season, the boys have delivered thus far.

They started off the season with a dominant win over the Clarksburg Coyotes, with a score of 19-1. Everyone got a lot of playing time, including the younger guys. Senior captain Mason Berk said, “In blowout games like this we often try to get a lot of the young guys in so they can learn and gain experience for next season. We are a heavily dominated senior team, so next year other guys will have to fill leadership positions.”

After the dominant performance against Clarksburg, the boys had a difficult stretch of games, with four consecutive games against division opponents. Our division is the most competitive in the county, with several quality teams, including defending state champions Churchill.

The boys took a tough loss at Whitman in the second game of the season. With a score of 17-11, in rough and rainy conditions, the boys suffered their first loss of the season. With a needed bounce back at home against a solid Walter Johnson team, the boys delivered with an 11-4 victory. The defensive unit was unreal, locking up a stellar Walter Johnson attack to just four goals. Senior d-pole Devlin Mccarthy said, “I think defense is the key to our team and is what will allow us to make a run deep in the playoffs. When we lock in and communicate, we are a tough unit to score on.”

The boys followed up this dominant performance with another division win against Richard Montgomery 15-4. The defense holding a second consecutive division opponent to four goals has proven yet again to be the difference. The scoring was spread out amongst the attackers.

Next up was the fourth division opponent in a row, BCC, a team that dominated the boys last season. With a ferocious attack, horrible rainy and windy conditions, and a goalie who was saving everything under the sun, the boys were outmatched last year. This year, we matched up with them the first game back from spring break. The game went into double overtime and was by far the most competitive game all season. Senior Alec Fleischer set up senior Parker Leibowitz with a tremendous skip pass, and Leibowitz did the rest. The team stormed the field to celebrate, after a hard-fought game. The boys got a crucial 10-9 win against BCC, further cementing their spot in the division. Leibowitz said, “It was set up for Alec: Alec was having a great game, he got open, got some space, saw the skip pass and I was there to finish it.”

After this monumental win, the boys suffered two losses to Churchill and Sherwood, two of the best teams in the state. With scores of 12-9 at home against Churchill, and 12-7 at Sherwood, this set the boys back a bit in the division, sliding them into the three-seed. After these two losses, the boys took care of business to close out the season, with key victories against Poolesville (on senior night) and Quince Orchard, two good teams. Both the offense and defense were clicking and playing together and making plays all over the field.

With an 8-3 record, the boys are firing on all cylinders heading into the playoffs. The boys’ first-round playoff matchup is on Wednesday, May 10, against Richard Montgomery, who they already dismantled earlier in the season. Although it was an easy win, anything can happen come playoff time. The boys will still need to come ready to take care of business.