By Michael Pittinger
LoCoSports Staff Writer
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Sterling (May 21, 2016) — The biggest excitement in any sport is to win a championship and the Potomac Falls Panthers girls lacrosse team did just that. The Panthers beat defending VHSL 5A state champion Stone Bridge 14-12 in the Loudoun Group Championship held at Park View High School on May 19.
Potomac Falls was determined to win from the opening faceoff of the game. Panther senior Sydney Knego scored just 24 seconds into the first half – it was the first of eight goals for the senior. Kengos’s first goal was also the first of six straight goals for Potomac Falls.
“Sydney Knego and Tori Birks are the two big difference makers on the team,” Potomac Falls head coach Jim Birks said. “The two of them are a big part of our team, but if I had to pick a player it is certainly Sydney who is doing a great job for us.”
After the sixth unanswered goal by the Panthers at the 15:06 mark of the first half, Stone Bridge called a timeout. The Bulldogs came out of the timeout reenergized.
“I think the girls needed to calm down, that’s what we talked to them about,” Birks said. “We told them to just maintain their composure because sometimes in big games people make them into a bigger deal than they should be because it’s a just another game.”
The halftime adjustments by Potomac Falls showed up early in the second half when Knego scored 28 seconds into the second half- her sixth goal of the game. The two teams traded goals for most of the second half.
“We did the best we could to calm them down, but this wasn’t our best game because we made a number of mistakes,” Birks said. “Thankfully we had the lead that we had and we were able to hold on to it.”
Both teams are looking forward to moving on to the VHSL 5A North zone tournament and hope to accomplish even more.
“We just want to continue to win,” Birks said. “Hopefully, we can get a lead like we had on this team, but next time keep the lead as broad as it could be.”
Scoring:
1H 24:36 PF Sydney Knego 1H21:58 PF Sydney Knego
1H 21:24 PF Sydney Knego
1H 20:15 PF Kelsey Curl
1H 19:40 PF Sydney Knego
1H 15:06 PF Sydney Knego
1H 11:30 SB Maria Keener
1H 10:56 PF Kelsey Curl
1H 8:22 SB Amy Thompson
1H 6:56 SB Maria Keener
1H 5:10 PF Maya Thompson
1H 4:53 SB Maria Keener
1H 2:58 SB Amy Thompson
1H 1:49 SB Maria Keener
1H 1:20 PF Tori Birks
1H 0:08 SB Morgan Salvato
2H 24:32 PF Sydney Knego
2H 20:17 PF Katelynn Wood
2H 17:51 SB Cara Hawkins
2H 17:37 SB Annie Ellis
2H 10:04 PF Sydney Knego
2H 7:45 PF Sydney Knego
2H 5:45 SB Maria Keener
2H 4:38 PF Kelsey Curl
2H 1:07 SB Morgan Salvato
2H 0:19 SB Maria Keener
