Girls Lacrosse: Oakton Holds On to Advance to State Semis

The Oakton girls lacrosse team (16-6) traveled south to take on Western Albemarle in the first round of the Virginia High School League State Championship Tournament on Saturday. The Cougars, the last team standing in postseason representing Oakton High, needed the win to stay alive in hopes of capturing the state title for the first time since 2008.

The Cougars held on to defeat Western Albemarle 16-13 in a physical match to advance to the state semifinal.

“We were playing a really strong defensive game and a lot of our girls got called [pushing] and the girls said, ‘What did we do wrong?’ and I said, 'Nothing,'" said Jean Counts, Oakton's head coach, in a phone interview after the game. “When you’re a defender and you're holding your ground, sometimes it looks like you’re pushing into them.”

The Cougars played a brilliant first half, led by Carly Palmucci’s four goals and two assists, but they lost momentum in the second half. With 1:30 left in regulation, relief goalkeeper Gabriella Mazziotti made a tremendous save that would have otherwise put Western Albemarle ahead. Oakton then stepped it up and scored three more to knock its opponent out and move forward toward the state championship.

“We kind of turned the ball over, and it wasn’t a pretty half,” Counts said. “We had no assists in the second half, which shows we weren’t really playing our game.”

The first half was a different story as Palmucci scored four goals, Kelsey Clarke scored three and Rachel Kuykendall and Alex Revel each put two in the back of the net for Oakton to take a 12-5 lead into halftime. The Cougars stuck to their “Ocean” attack that has worked extremely well all season.

Albemarle played aggressively, with two of its starters standing over 6-feet tall, and charged hard during the second half to catch up with Oakton, turning the match into a nail-biter with minutes remaining.

But Counts said it was the stellar play of her team when its opponent committed penalties that made the difference in the end.

“We had seven free position opportunities and we made six of those shots, which is unusual for us," Counts said.

Oakton advances to the state semifinal where it will face Concorde District rival Chantilly for the third time this season. The teams each hold a 1-1 record against each other, and the rubber match will be held Tuesday to determine who reaches the state final.

“I don’t think it matters about who we play as it does about how we do our job with team chemistry. After traveling down here with unfamiliar territory, unfamiliar referees, unfamiliar team it will be kind of nice to go back home,” Counts said. “Playing another Concorde District team is pretty neat, but either way we’re just lucky to be here and ready to play.”

Oakton plays in a state semifinal against Chantilly at Westfield High at 6 p.m. Tuesday