North Point girls lacrosse routs Lackey
Eagles win first game of season; Zadeh scores seven goals, all in first half
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Just a day prior to Thursday’s Southern Maryland Athletic Conference Potomac Division girls lacrosse contest at Lackey High School, North Point suffered its second straight loss of the season, falling at home to Patuxent 14- 9.
However, led by junior midfielder Ali Zadeh, the Eagles responded with a 19- 3 victory over the Chargers in Indian Head for their first win of the season.
“It was definitely necessary for some morale because it is tough to start with two losses,” said North Point head coach Paige Attonito, whose team fell 7- 6 to host Chopticon in its season opener March 21. “It feels good to start off in division play well. They looked good today and have great team bonding.”
North Point ( 1- 2, 1- 0 Po- tomac) is scheduled to host Huntingtown at 6 tonight.
With blazing speed and stick control in the open field, Zadeh was a scoring machine as she led all scorers in the game, delivering all seven of her goals in the first half, spearheading the Eagles to a 11- 1 halftime lead.
Zadeh scored four of North Point’s first five goals in the first 12 minutes of the game as the Eagles led 5- 0.
“I like to look for fast breaks at first if not work the ball around to one of my teammates,” said Zadeh, a team captain. “At times I tr y not to take it down the field by myself because I want to learn and grow, I still have another year here. I started playing lacrosse young and it has become my favorite sport.”
After her working her way up in the varsity ranks as a freshman and sophomore, Zadeh is starting to come into her own in her third season for the Eagles.
“Freshman year, I worked my way up and last year I felt that I was getting my place on the team and this year I know that I’m one of the leaders on the team. I want to help others on the team and that is my role. I enjoy doing that because I know these girls are capable of reaching their full potential. They just need a little bit of guidance.”
On Zadeh’s ability and presence on the team, Attonito said, “Ali is incredible. Her athleticism and knowledge of the game is beyond her age, which is a true asset to this team. She definitely helps the team get stronger and always helping her teammates and lead them in the right direction.”
North Point, which had nine different goal scorers on the day, was also led by seniors Phebe Walker and Taylor Kouch, junior Lia Willis and freshman Teagan Rohrbaugh with two goals each.
“I expect us to keep getting better at the end of the season,” Attonito said. “This is the first time we’ve had players that have played the game before coming in. We don’t have a lot of varsity experience, but I think we will come together just fine.”
Kaya Wade led Lackey ( 12, 1- 2) with two goals, while Ashley Herbert added one.
“We are working hard and still trying to build the program,” co- head coach Toni Ethington said. “We are playing against a lot of girls that play year- round and I think we have to get more players to commit to the offseason and that is going to take some time.”
Lackey hosts Great Mills at 6 tonight.