In 2010, the Monticello girls lacrosse program was so close. Year after year since, the Mustangs were always just on the cusp of locking up a VHSL state tournament bid.
Then in 2015, Monticello appeared to be one of the favorites to win outright before Salem tripped them up. So to say it has been a long arduous journey for this program, and particularly, these seniors, well that’s putting it mildly.
Facing two road games to open up the Region 4A West semifinals, the Mustangs found a way to get the job done at long last, beating Midlothian in the quarterfinals on Friday, and most importantly come Tuesday, edging Jefferson Forest 11-8 in a game that they trailed for just a few of the opening minutes.
“It’s huge — this has been the goal the entire season,” said Monticello coach Trent Holden. “I told them before the game that if they pulled this off, they’d be the first Monticello lacrosse team to make it to the final four. I think that’s huge for them and then huge for the area, making the state realize that we are a force to be reckoned with.”
Two different pieces helped spark the Mustangs: the hot start and then dealing with the Cavaliers’ own surge. While Jefferson Forest drew first blood, and was up 2-1 just over three minutes into the game Monticello answered with an 7-0 run as Paige McGlothlin and Josie Mallory dominated play.
“We were just communicating a lot and cutting out wide,” Mallory said. “And our intensity kept us up in it. Me and Paige, I don’t know, we just have a connection I guess.”
The run lasted 17:30 and by the end, Monticello led 8-2. It wasn’t until the end of the first half that the Cavaliers got things together. In the process, Monticello kept Jefferson Forest’s Ellie Daly and Morgan Learn quiet, not something easy to do.
“Whenever you face a team built around two or three players you just have to send the double early,” Holden said. “With (Learn) we just tried to man-mark and take her out of the game. But regardless, when either (Learn) or (Daly) had the ball, we just tried to pressure and make sure they had to make a decision to get rid of the ball. You can’t sit back and let them dictate the game.”
But with goals from Erin Toney and Daly in the last two and half minutes before the break, Jefferson Forest started to find its rhythm going into halftime down 8-4. Then at the start of the second half, the Mustangs found a couple of posts on some great shots offensively and the Cavaliers simply played better and won more draw controls. A 4-1 Jefferson Forest run to open the second half made things interesting with the game at 9-7 in Monticello’s favor with just over 14 minutes to play.
Mallory’s goal with 10:23 left gave the Mustangs some breathing room. However, the Cavaliers answered back with a goal from Learn just two minutes later to make it a 2-goal game again. Jefferson Forest then killed off a yellow card and forced a Monticello turnover before quickly calling timeout.
“I told the girls that we were going to try and force a turnover, but even if we didn’t, we were going to make it take as long as possible for them to get the ball down the field,” Holden said. “We got lucky with a tip and it was huge for us.”
That tip off the whistle wound up as forced turnover and ground ball from Caleigh Smith. Then the Mustangs avoided things getting any tighter and with Meghan Walin converting with 4:32 Monticello had a 3-goal advantage again.
“We talked a lot about possessing the ball and worrying about the clock all game long,” Holden said. “Especially with a team like Jefferson Forest that’s great on draw controls that every ball we got, we had to possess it for a long time and keep their defense out there and wait for our perfect moment.”
That paired with a Carly Harris save with just over a minute to go allowed the Mustangs to wrap up the 11-8 win by simply running out the clock. McGlothlin notched a hat trick and two assists while Mallory finished with four goals. Walin had two goals and an assist. Ari Archer and Smith each chipped in a goal while Kendall Smith chipped in an assist.
“We started focusing more in practice and we’re thinking ‘Oh we can be something now.’” Mallory said. “We can actually go on and be the first team to go to states for Monticello.”
Now they’re there.
Monticello girls lacrosse's Josie Mallory talks after her team's win over Jefferson Forest in First off the Field presented by @PT_acac pic.twitter.com/P2jmBPDjeB
— scrimmageplay (@scrimmageplay) May 31, 2017
