Never in its history had Oakton’s girls lacrosse team beaten one of the powerful private school programs from the Independent Schools League. Late in Thursday afternoon’s game at No. 4 Holton-Arms it didn’t look like that would change.
But trailing by a goal in the final minute, the seventh-ranked Cougars improbably scored twice, including the game-winner from senior attack Victoria Cable with just five seconds to play, shocking Holton-Arms, 9-8.
“There’s no way we could have won a game like that last year,” said Oakton coach Jean Counts, whose team lost to No. 1 St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes in their first game against an ISL opponent this season, 16-0, on April 18. “But we have a bunch of third-year seniors now and these girls know how to win.”
Holton-Arms (9-5) led 8-7 after a goal by sophomore midfielder Emily Whicker with 3 minutes, 28 seconds to go. The Panthers won the ensuing draw and for two minutes effectively ran a stall offense to run down the clock. Holton got away with one turnover. But a second turnover forced by Oakton junior Erin Sensabaugh led directly to a goal by senior Katie Stokely with 17 seconds left.
“We didn’t have to say anything and we weren’t really nervous at that point,” said junior Ashley Kimener, who assisted on the game-winning goal. “They ran a great stall offense and we just needed a break.”
After Stokely scored, senior Katie Berkel came up with a critical draw control. She passed to Kimener, who found Cable open for the game-winner, setting off a jubilant celebration. It was the second time this week Oakton (9-1) had rallied late to win. The Cougars overcame a three-goal deficit to Concorde District rival Chantilly in an 11-10 victory on Tuesday.
“Katie really came up big for us,” said Cable, who finished with three goals. “The girl she was up against in the circle was tough on us all day. But once we won that one, I knew we would produce for her.”
It may have been a non-league game, but it was still a tough loss to swallow for Holton. The Panthers fell behind four separate times in the first 35 minutes, yet kept re-tying the contest. They trailed 2-0 at the start and 5-4 at halftime. But Oakton, thoroughly humbled by St. Stephen’s last month, never went away.
“The Saints beat us up pretty bad so we wanted to come back for this game and show that a public school can play with the best ISL teams,” Cable said. “I think that game was our wake-up call. We wouldn’t have won today without it.”
Clawing for the win
» Oakton junior Tory Morgan was excellent in goal, finishing with 12 saves.
» Junior MF/D Bailey Fogarty and senior A M.C. Ourisman each scored twice for Holton-Arms.
» Oakton, the defending Group AAA state champion, does not begin its title defense until the Concorde District semifinals on Wednesday against either Herndon or Westfield.
