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Sports

Girls Lacrosse: Hornets Overpower Fairfax in Opener

Herndon dominates opener against Fairfax 19-9 despite missing several players

The last thing a coach wants in the first game of the season is for five starters to leave during the middle of the game.

But that is exactly what happened Thursday night as the Herndon Hornets (1-0) girls lacrosse team played the Fairfax Rebels (0-2) and several Herndon players had to leave prematurely due to a previous commitment to sing in a choir concert.

The game was originally scheduled for 7:15 p.m. but was moved up an hour due to the concert. Fortunately, the Hornets had scored eight goals before the half and led by five, which allowed Herndon coach Rick Cassara’s nerves to settle.

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Herndon would go on to dominate Fairfax behind a vigorous offensive attack from seniors Leslie Holbrook and Allie Aroesty who combined for 11 goals and five assists in the Hornet win, 19-9.

“We beat Fairfax last year in overtime,” Cassara said after the game. “Our team has definitely improved and we have a lot of seniors playing. The dedication is there and now seems to be more widespread.”

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The Hornet’s dedication showed on the field as four of the seven players who scored had three or more goals.

Holbrook scored a game-high six goals and four assists while teammate Aroesty put five in the net for Herndon.

“This was a high scoring game for me because usually I am a big assister,” Holbrook said. “Allie and me work well together. I assist her and she scores a whole bunch.”

Herndon put the pressure on from the opening whistle and did not let up. Fairfax’s Nicole Panagos and Leah Fargis performed valiantly against the Hornets in the second half on defense by stopping several more scoring opportunities for Herndon. 

Captain Gracie Williams scored once and her five assists were huge for the Hornets in helping teammates fire off 11 goals in the second half.

“Gracie Williams had a great game. She is the kind of kid that makes stuff happen and makes the assists,” Cassara said. “She had a number of interceptions and picked up ground balls. Even if she’s not scoring for you, she’s making stuff happen on the field and she is a leader.”

The Rebels offense improved greatly in the second half with four players, including Katie Derrick and Sam Bryan, scoring two goals each.

“In the first quarter we started off really well but then we got ahead of our selves and needed to slow down and get control,” Derrick said. “But in the beginning of the second we had three goals right off the bat.”

Bryan said she believes the Rebels will grow with experience.

“We are way younger [this season] I feel we can build a lot better off of the younger players and feel like we will have a stronger team by the end of the season.”

There is even more great news for Herndon as Williams has lacrosse at Monmouth University this fall while Holbrook will attend Virginia Tech to study engineering and plans on playing club lacrosse.

Herndon plays at home against Westfield at 7:15 p.m. on March 21.

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