B-CC Girls Lacrosse Starts Season on a Roll

girls lacrosse team got off to a strong start this year, winning its first three games with a combination of good teamwork and steady goaltending.

After two close wins at home over and and a 15-8 road win against , the Barons had momentum working in their favor.

Only one thing stood in the way of carrying that momentum forward through the rest of their schedule:

Spring break.

“It’s a struggle every year,” third-year head coach Katie Howard said. “We lose a lot of the girls over spring break and it’s tough to keep them motivated. I keep telling them it takes two days to get out of shape and two weeks to get back in shape. We’ve come so far and we’ve had some really great wins, but the two-week break is tough and when we get back we have a tough schedule right away.”

When B-CC travels to play (2-1) on Thursday, it will have been 17 days since the team last saw game action. Motivation should not be hard to come by, though, as the Barons will be looking to avenge the 10-9 upset loss that ended their season in the first round of the playoffs last year.

Seniors such as center Lillian Herrick-Reynolds, midfielder Kayla Hanley, attack/midfielder Cristina Shoffner and defender/midfielder Molly Zinkgraf have been key contributors to B-CC's early-season success. Howard said her older players have been notable both for their play on the field and their leadership off it.

“As a spring sport, seniors are sometimes difficult to motivate, they kind of check out,” Howard said. “But this group has been awesome, they really have been excited for everything and they’re really into it and having fun with it. And they’re great role models for the younger players.”

Howard said the team’s success over its first three games was due at least in part to a balanced offensive attack. The Barons have had eight different players score goals and have featured a different leading scorer in each game.

“They really are a team,” Howard said. “Each game we’ve had, I think, four or five different scorers. So as a coach, that’s something I always like to see, that it’s not just one leading scorer, but it really is a team effort.”

Even with their team-oriented approach, there are individual performances that have stood out. Sophomore midfielder Emily Stoll leads the team with 11 goals, none more important than the game-winner she scored with four seconds left in the season-opener against Springbrook.

Also off to a fast start is Herrick-Reynolds. The team captain is second on the squad with nine goals, and her face-off and midfield transition skills have served the Barons well early in the season.

A pleasant surprise has been the improved play of sophomore goalie Leanne Klock, a returning starter who has stabilized a position that had been a weakness for the Barons in the recent past.

"Last year we had a freshman who had never played before stepping in on the varsity field, which is a hard job to take on," Howard said. "And then the year before we just had a senior play because nobody else would step on board. So I think this season one thing that really puts us at an advantage I see is the goalie position-that we actually have the personnel to fill it and to be successful in it."

Klock and her teammates will face a series of challenging matchups when their season resumes. After their game against Whitman, they will host (3-1) and then travel to play perennial powerhouse (3-1).

After those three games, a clearer picture of where B-CC ranks among Montgomery County schools should emerge. So far, Howard has liked what she has seen.

"I feel really lucky," Howard said. "This year, I feel like the team has a really positive energy on and off the field. We really don’t have cliques, we don’t have ball hogs. Everybody works together... I see a whole lot of potential with this group."