Falls Church Boys' Lacrosse Stymied by Wildcats

Falls Church boys’ lacrosse Coach Geoff Young led his young team into Wildcat territory Monday night in hope that his boys would grow and learn from playing the team that has arguably the best player in the region, in Zack Sikora.

After lightning lit up the sky causing a 70-minute delay, Sikora and Shane Kehl lit up the Jaguars. The pair combined for seven goals, as Centreville cruised to a 14-6 victory.

Kehl scored three goals in the span of 67 seconds in the second quarter, and Sikora added three more in the first half to give the Wildcats an insurmountable 10-1 lead at halftime.

Although Centreville dominated the first half, the Jaguars came out strong in the second and took control of the game’s tempo. Five different Jaguars scored goals in the third and fourth quarters, including Kyle Jackson, who drilled in a 20-footer for his second score of the game with 5:26 left in regulation. And though it would not suffice, Young’s boys could take pride in the fact that they outscored Centreville 5-4 in the second half.

“We stopped dodging in the second half and began working it around more,” Jackson said. “But we really have to start working the ball around even more.”

Falls Church caught the Wildcats slacking in the second half as they committed double-digit penalties and passed the ball poorly for the majority of the half. The Jaguars drew them into foul trouble, and took advantage of their power plays. They found a spark behind aggressive offense led by defenders Royer Rodriguez and freshman Henry Truelove, who both laid bone-crushing hits on Wildcat players for groundball turnovers.

Truelove passed up field to his midfielders and forwards for several scoring opportunities. He also put one in the net himself off an interception at the top of the Wildcats' crease with eight minutes left in the fourth.

“I thought our defense started playing man better and started picking it up,” Matt Evans said. “This is only the second time our backups started playing really well.”

“We’re young and we were missing a couple players tonight. We started a couple juniors, sophomores and freshmen, so when you are starting those kinds of kids you are going to make mistakes early,” Young said. “Our goal is to get into our districts, take it from there and hopefully make some noise down there. We are getting better every day.”

In good sportsmanship, Coach Young gave credit to the stellar play of Sikora.

“That number seven is the real deal.”

Falls Church plays at Lee at 7:15 p.m. on March 25.