Boys Lacrosse: Cougars Claim Concorde District Title

As the Oakton High boys lacrosse team compiled a 2-3 record within their district, seeding fourth in the tournament, the chances of the Cougars achieving their goal of a district title narrowed.

But with a team seeping with experience and a determination to disprove their detractors, the Cougars upset No. 2 Westfield Bulldogs with a 9-8 victory for the Concorde District title on Friday.

Though the Cougars tallied the first point on the scoreboard, the teams battled from the start, as the Bulldogs went a man down on the first play. Evan Lalande opened scoring on an assist from Stephen Lambrides, which the Bulldogs answered two minutes later.

The Wildcats pulled ahead with 6:22 left in the first quarter, which the Cougars matched about a minute later on a goal from Michael Gillooly, again assisted by Lambrides. With about two minutes left in the quarter the Wildcats pulled ahead and kept the Cougars from tying again to end the quarter with a 3-2 advantage.

But the Cougars kept the Bulldogs scoreless in the second quarter, enabling them to tie with a goal from Brian Oliver on an assist from Andrew Lohmann. The Cougars pulled ahead on an unassisted diving shot from Gillooly that shot past the right side of the Bulldog goalkeeper with a little less than three minutes left in the first half. The Cougars led the Bulldogs 4-3 at halftime.

The Wildcats tied the game about a minute into the third quarter, but Lalande, on a toss from Oliver, grabbed the lead for the Cougars and started a 3-0 scoring spree over seven minutes of play. Lambrides and Durst scored the other two goals of the quarter.

The Wildcats scored their fifth goal with about 90 seconds left in the third quarter, starting a scoring spree of their own that carried into the fourth to give them an 8-7 advantage with about nine minutes left.

"We knew they were going to surge. We were up on them at halftime the first time we played, and they are an extremely well-coached team and we knew they were going to make adjustments," Barhight said. "They came out with a lot of fire in the first half, and it makes me very proud at the way [the Cougars] played and responded."

The Wildcats held the lead for about four minutes before the Cougars tied it again on a shot from Marshall with an assist from Lalande.

With 91 seconds left in the game, Jack Harris — who, with Sean Schweiker, leads the Cougars in scoring this season — scored his first goal of the game on an assist from Schweiker to win the Concorde District title with a 9-8 final score.

"Earlier in the season we lost some close games because we lost our focus. We got caught up in the emotions and the hype of the game. So our main goal was to stay smart an run our offense," Harris said. "I knew [the goalie] was going to go up high, so when he jumped I just shot low."

The Cougars will host Thomas Jefferson High School in the first round of the Northern Region Tournament at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

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