4A West MPSSAA Lacrosse Playoffs Off to a Great Start
Bethesda, MD, Walt Whitman High School, Friday, May 10
MPSSAA 4A Lacrosse Playoff at Whitman High School
Skies threatened, rain came, then so did the sun as advancing rounds of MPSSAA lacrosse playoffs got off to a great start.
In the opener it was the local as a boys visitor, Walt Whitman against the higher seed and home team, Bethesda-Chevy Chase (BCC). In the night cap, to borrow a baseball term, it was the girls’ turn. Walt Whitman faced off against Walter Johnson.
The first game was a thriller. As the rains dropped in the second the BCC Barons and Walt Whitman Vikings poured in goals. Things slowed down in the second half. The Barons held a 2 point advantage late in the fourth quarter. Finally, the Vikings found a way to rally with less than one minute on the clock remaining to tie the game 12 apiece.
Suddenly, it was win time with a new clock of four minutes. Strategically, Whitman held ground during the period against BCC’s attempts only to cause a force error behind their goal. Unfortunately, this gave BCC a chance to go for the win. With 29.6 seconds left BCC located the back of the net to survive and advance, 13-12.
MPSSAA 4A Lacrosse Playoff at Whitman High School
Sunny skies greeted the Walt Whitman girls, who found the going a little easier against Walter Johnson. Call this a classic rivalry between schools these North and Western Bethesda neighborhoods who put on a great game. Masterfully, controlling the game the Vikings held off a late surge by the Wildcats to survive and advance in a 12-7 win.
Both winners move to Monday’s third playoff round. In boys lacrosse BCC will face Churchill, the top seed, at Wootton High School at 7:15 p.m. The Walt Whitman girls will travel up to Potomac to take on Churchill, the top seed on their home field. Winners from this West round will advance to the Regional finals to be contested at Gaithersburg High School on Wednesday, May 15.
Sherwood boys in the 4A North, faces Urbana, in Urbana this evening at 7:15 p.m. Coincidentally, Sherwood’s girls play at home, also against Urbana at 7:15 p.m.
Group series of photos to follow.
All images copyrighted 2019 © Phil Fabrizio | PhotoLoaf® for MCM
Follow Phil Fabrizio at @PhotoLoaf for updates and game coverage of the continuing MPSSAA LAX playoffs.
Can’t believe you NEVER featured Richard Montgomery Boy’s Lacrosse in any video or blog. They were the only UNDEFEATED team in Montgomery County coming into the Regoinal Championships. They lost to the reigning Regional champ, but Churchill had their first real scare before going on to the State Semi-finals. RM’ s first loss to a league team was 6-5 in OT in the Regional championship. THEY WERE RATED#9 in the Washington Post. Why, why no coverage????
First, Congratulations to the Richard Montgomery Boys and Girls Lacrosse teams for reaching the 4A West Regional finals. Both teams and coaches deserve a lot of credit for their exciting 2019 seasons. I can’t write on behalf of MCM’s video staff but RM’s boys were covered photographically on May 15th and posted on MCM on May 16th. Check out Daryl Schultz’s blog. This perhaps was the ultimate boys game in MoCo LAX this season. Not only was the Regional (MPSSAA) Championship on the line it was in essence a grudge match between two MoCo powerhouse teams. Daryl Schultz’s coverage of the game was spot on. It came down to who controlled the ball last. Congrat’s to all MoCo teams and good luck to those moving forward in the MPSSAA state semi-finals this weekend in Gaithersburg.