Boys Lax Playoff: Watins Mill Faces Off Tonight Against Gaithersburg

Watkins Mill boys' lacrosse has met only that harshest of playoff fates the past two years: first-round, double-digit blowouts in which they never stood a chance.

Those were uninspired versions of the Wolverines, not the emboldened 17-man squad taking the field in tonight’s playoff opener at Gaithersburg High School, and Watkins Mill has already been on unfamiliar ground all year long—their 6-0 start, their first .500 season in a decade, standing last week at an unlikely 8-2, eyeing what in the preseason was a far-fetched 10 wins.

Though the stigma of a pushover may be shed, Watkins Mill not yet proven they can prevail under pressure, coming into tonight’s game on the heels of two bitter defeats: a 7-6 loss to Poolesville on Saturday in which they squandered a one-goal lead in the fourth quarter, followed Tuesday by a stinging loss on senior night, where they stumbled to a 9-4 halftime deficit against Paint Branch, then cut the lead to 11-10, only to see the Panthers tack on a goal and hold on for the win.

Despite those late-game letdowns, it was perhaps the best that Coach Randy Thompson has seen his team play all season, and both games brought a playoff-like intensity that showed his players team the kind of focus and mental toughness they will need tonight against the Trojans.

“We really feel like these are the types of games that are going to make us better,” he said.

That will be put to the test against a Gaithersburg squad that has compiled a 5-7 record against a much more difficult schedule than Watkins Mill’s.

Both teams beat Northwest and Blake this season and both lost to Clarksburg and Quince Orchard. But while Watkins Mill lost to Paint Branch 12-10, Gaithersburg beat the Panthers last week 13-7.

Whatever the Wolverines’ fate tonight, it will start and end with the Trojans’ goalie, Alex Hrycak. The senior has turned back 204 shots on the season, with at least 15 saves in all but two of 12 games.

To be sure, Gaithersburg faces an opponent tonight that bears little resemblance to the squad they beat in the schools’ most recent match-up, a 9-1 Trojans win in 2009.

That was in the midst of a painful three-year stretch in which Watkins Mill totaled eight wins and 32 losses. Back then, players went into most games expecting to lose. Practice felt more like social hour. Few players worked on their game in the offseason, and for many, the end of each season brought as much relief as it did satisfaction.

“We were just losing all the time and it was no fun to actually play lacrosse,” said Kyle Khuen, whose 32 goals this season are a team-high. “Ever since I was a freshman, we got used to losing. The last three years, we were going into games joking around, ‘Oh, how bad is the score going to be tonight?’ Now it’s not like that. Now we’re getting used to winning. We actually care more now.”

This year’s team avenged several of last year’s blowout defeats while winning praise from opposing coaches even in the games they lost.

And though Watkins Mill’s six seniors—Kyle Khuen, Tommy Drury, Henry Ludgate, Sean Harmon, Mike Benavides and Kwesi Arhin—knew they would be much better, little did anyone expect Watkins Mill to make such large strides.

The turnaround started with a commitment to winter and summer leagues, where they built their stick skills and team rapport. Since then, they’ve seen nothing short of a wholesale transformation in skill, confidence and the team’s sense of purpose.

“I can just say that losing sucks. After a while, you learn that you just don’t want to do it anymore,” said Michael Benavides, a midfielder who splits face-off duty. “It’s worlds apart from where we were before. We have each other’s back with everything. We’re a very close family now.”