If this had been one year ago, Oakton senior attack Donald Murphy would have walked off the field with his high school lacrosse career at an end.
There would not have been any second chances after a 12-2 loss to top-ranked W.T. Woodson in the Northern Region tournament semifinals on Monday. After helping his team to three consecutive region and unofficial state championships, that stinging defeat to the Cavaliers would have been the final memory for Murphy and Oakton’s 10 other seniors.
Thankfully for the Cougars, there is still another day to play. For the first time, the Virginia High School League is sanctioning a Group AAA state championship game in boys and girls lacrosse. Because lacrosse is still played sporadically in the Group AAA Eastern and Central Regions, two Group AA teams from Region II, Broad Run and Western Albemarle, have qualified for the tournament instead. The Northern and Northwest Regions will send three representatives each, making a consolation game between the semifinal losers in those regions necessary to fill out the final state tournament spot. Oakton will play No. 3 Langley tonight in the boy’s consolation while Yorktown faces Loudoun Valley in the girls consolation.
“It’s great for the sport that we finally have a state tournament to play in and it’s definitely a sense of relief that we have another chance to make it there,” said Murphy, an All-Examiner selection in lacrosse last spring and football last fall. “But hopefully we can play with a greater sense of urgency this time. We’re going to have to.”
