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Rain, rain go away, so Falcons lacrosse can contend
Fauquier lacrosse coach Reed Gillespie believes his team is a serious challenger in the Cedar Run District. This is, if the Falcons ever get to play a game.
Rain washed out a scheduled contest with Charlottesville on Wednesday ? the third straight cancellation for the Falcons who will now, hopefully, open on March 31.
But if the players' reactions to the latest wash-out is any indication, Fauquier enters 2008 hungry. Gillespie said several Falcons tracked him down repeatedly at school, urging him to play through the rain.
When the decision to postpone finally came down, the Falcons were crushed.
“They are very anxious to play,” Gillespie said. “This holding pattern is frustrating.”
Once the games actually start, the Falcons' will have to meet high expectations.
Courtesy of a dramatic 8-7 upset over No. 2 seeded Osbourn Park in the district tournament last year, Fauquier stormed into the state's regional playoffs before losing to North Stafford, 15-5. This season, the Falcons want to return to regionals ?and do so by taking the district crown.
“In any sport I coach, I don't want to set false expectations,” Gillespie said. “We're not going to win a state championship in lacrosse this year, we know that.
“But a district title is attainable, and that is our biggest goal.”
The Falcons' returning base of players provides reason for such optimism.
Arguably no one in that group will face more scrutiny than Thorne Watkins, the Falcons' senior goalie. He was instrumental in last season's surge ? including a denial of a late OP shot in that regional-clinching victory.
Gillespie figures that Watkins can be a superstar this season, but consistency is the key. “If he steps up, he can truly become an elite goaltender,” Gillespie said. “We had a couple of games last year where one easy shot got by him, and he let that affect him.”
Making Watkins' job less stressful is a strong Fauquier defense.
Senior Doug Galvydis anchors the group, with junior Mike Safford returning as well. Fellow junior James Catlett will likely join the group.
The Falcon frontline is stellar as well. One of the biggest weapons there is junior Scott Biegert. He tallied the game-winner that sent Fauquier to regionals in 2007.
“He's one of our strongest players,” Gillespie said. “He is one guy who will really step up.
Senior Clif Dodge will again join Biegert in the attack zone. Classmate Will Roszel joins him, shifting from middie to attack.
“We're pretty good with where we are on defense,” Gillespie said. “And we're pretty good with where we are at attack. We don't know about the midfield.”
If the Falcons have an achilles heel, it does appear to be at middie.
The main reason fueling such consternation is the absence of star midfielder Pete Kidwell, who is still recovering from a shoulder injury suffered back during football season.
Kidwell patrolled the FHS middle last season ? as a prototypical team leader and a heavy hitter. Without him, Gillespie has to scramble.
“That's going to hurt us,” said the Fauquier coach of Kidwell's absence. “He brought a little attitude, which was good.”
Senior John McCulla inherits the lead middie role, with John McGuinn also figuring to be prominently featured.
McGuinn was one of the Falcons' best players in short-handed situations last season. He will have to take on a bigger role in 2008, because Fauquier has a potential weakness at the moment. “Midfield is the one area that we need to be stronger in,” Gillespie said
Assuming that spot shores up, the Falcons certainly look like a postseason threat.
The Cedar Run, though, will once again be strong ? Gillespie mentioned Battlefield, Osbourn Park, Culpeper and new district member Loudoun Valley as contenders.
Even so, FHS is extremely confident entering 2008. The Falcons are hopeful that, this time, a regional berth will not require any last-second heroics.
“We want to control our own destiny,” Gillespie said. “The whole team has a 'Let's make it happen' attitude, and that's good.”
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