Every bump was a test. Every fight for a ground ball a preview of things to come.
Stone Ridge’s lacrosse team has dealt with everything opponents have thrown at it this season and passed with flying colors each time. There was no reason Wednesday’s grueling second half at home against Oakton (Va.) would be any different.
Matching a rejuvenated Oakton team that made life difficult in a game where the Gators had led comfortably at halftime, Stone Ridge again rose to the challenge in a 9-6 victory.
By doing so, the Gators set up a showdown on Friday afternoon at Independent Schools League power St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes, which has not lost a game to an ISL opponent since 1994. It is a daunting task. But for a Stone Ridge team that finds itself sitting pretty at 12-0 nothing at this point seems impossible.
“We honestly never want to look too far ahead,” said Stone Ridge midfielder Melissa Minshall, who tallied two goals, including the opening score of the second half that give the Gators an 8-2 advantage. “But we can’t help but look at that game. The last few years we haven’t come as close as we’d like against St. Stephen’s. We’re hoping to change that.”
Stone Ridge, which has a 4-0 ISL record, received a game-high five goals from Virginia-bound senior midfielder Kaitlin Duff — all of them in the first half — to stake the Gators to a 7-2 lead at halftime. Duff was so good that the Cougars called timeout and switched standout defender Katie Moran to cover her full time midway through the first half. Moran is headed to Penn to play field hockey
“Kaitlin is an awesome player,” said Oakton coach Jean Counts. “She’s so skilled and so fast. Trying to stop her was a great test for our defense.”
Moran did a fine job, holding Duff scoreless in the second half. But by then the damage was done. After Minshall’s second goal with 23 minutes, 18 seconds left to play, Oakton scored four of the next five goals to trim the Stone Ridge lead to 9-6 with more than six minutes remaining. And that didn’t include the four separate times the Cougars rang shots off the post during that stretch. The game had tilted in Oakton’s favor. But Stone Ridge maintained its composure and kept possession away from the Cougars for most of the final five minutes.
“Even if we don’t have a lot of star players like some other ISL teams, it seems like everyone on that field has something to offer for us,” Minshall said. “That’s why we win games like this one. We play as a team.”
Oakton sophomore attack Ashley Kimener scored two goals and added an assist. Junior midfielder Hillary Freund also scored two goals for the Cougars and sophomore goalie Tory Morgan made eight saves. Midfielder Kaitlin Keena scored two goals for Stone Ridge, which led 3-0 just eight minutes into the game.
Game notes
» On Friday, Stone Ridge will try and upset a St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes team that is 9-0, 4-0 against Independent Schools League competition and has won 11 straight ISL titles.
» Oakton (6-2) is one of the top public school teams in Fairfax County. The Cougars were the Northern Region runners-up last season in Virginia.
» Stone Ridge goalie Aveen Karim made nine saves, including five in the second half to help stave off Oakton’s rally.
