South Lakes Seahawks Dominant in Crucial Lacrosse Matchup

by Chris Colston

With the Liberty Conference playoffs starting tonight, South Lakes (Reston) High School appears to be peaking at the right time.

Following a 9-0 win over West Springfield Tuesday night, the Seahawks (10-1) have reeled off nine consecutive victories and finished the regular season undefeated in Liberty Conference play.

Junior goalie Noah Smith was brilliant all night against the Spartans, even though West Springfield had at least man advantage nine different times due to penalties. Aided by aggressive defenders and middies, Smith blocked multiple point-blank shots in the third and fourth quarters.

Senior attackmen J.C. Sipher (three goals) and Chris Sherbert (one goal and two assists) led the attack, while junior midfielders Spencer Alston and sophomore Steve Jones each scored twice. Other getting into the action included senior defensemen Matt Degutis (one assist) and Matt Hughes (one goal).

Thanks to sophomore Dotson Pietrowski and senior Carlos Rodriguez, South Lakes won 10 of 12 face-offs, which enabled the Seahawks to control the ball offensively and run their offensive sets.

South Lakes defends its first-ever Liberty Conference Title at home tonight (Thursday) against Hayfield at 7 p.m. The Seahawks hope to better last year’s playoff run, when they made it to the state quarterfinals before losing to Colonial Forge.