Virginia Lacrosse: Madison Girls Win State Title

On Saturday night, the Madison High School girls lacrosse team (20-1)  won its second state title in three years by defeating Langley, 12 – 7.  

This was the fourth time this season that Madison defeated Langley (15-6) to include lopsided victories in the Liberty District and Northern Region Championship games.  The Warhawks rode the experience of  “All-Met Coach of the Year” Amanda Counts, Assistant  Coach  Jen Ryan, seniors Erin Callahan, Carly Frederick and Melissa Kellan, along with juniors Sam Babbitt, Alex Condon, Katie Kerrigan, and Maddie Renshaw, who all were members of the 2011 state championship team.   With Madison’s potent offense slowed uncharacteristically, their defense didn’t hesitate to take center stage.   At a critical point in the game, defensive stalwart Rachel Brennan took the brunt of  several aggressive  checks  and was side-lined for a few minutes  with a hyper-extended knee.  After returning to the field, Brennan was blind-sided by an illegal hit which sent her rolling across midfield and resulted in a  rare and disqualifying red card for the Langley player. 

The Warhawks responded offensively, with Ellie Bentley and Erin Callahan firing two consecutive goals 15 seconds apart, staking Madison to an  insurmountable 11-6 lead.   Kierra Sweeney lead  with Warhawks offensively with 3 goals.  Also contributing to Madison’s balanced scoring effort were Katie Kerrigan (2 goals, 3 assists), Alex Condon (2 goals, 1 assist), Erin Callahan (2 goals), Ellie Bentley (1 goal), Rachel Brennan (1 goal), Carly Frederick (1 goal) and Sam Babbitt (1 assist).  Goalie Sigourney Heerink had one of her best games  with 5 saves and by limiting Langley to only 7 goals.  

In the boys title game, Chantilly defeated Madison 9-5.  This ended the Warhawk  boys’ stellar post-season run which was highlighted by both Liberty District and Northern Region Championships.  This was the first time in Madison history that both the girls and boys teams advanced to the state finals in the same year. 

Madison girls lacrosee reported for this story.