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Falcon offense purrs contentedly in 12-5 victory over Eagles
As though the Fauquier Falcons weren’t feeling frisky enough with country-rival Liberty as their opponent Monday, they drew cat whiskers and noses on their faces before the game.
Fittingly, the Falcons also showed feline quickness in the open field, scoring transition goals with ease to beat the Liberty girls lacrosse team, 12-5, and improve to 3-1 on the season.
The Falcons’ unique face decorations actually originated at a Fauquier-Liberty game last season. Fauquier entered the 2008 postseason Cedar Run District tournament having lost to Liberty twice in the regular season, 9-5 and 16-9, but it shocked the Eagles in the tournament quarterfinals with a 10-7 victory.
Ohlivia Boyd sported cat whiskers on her face for that game, so given the outcome, she decided to recreate the look for Monday’s game at Falcon Field.
“I did it last year during the Liberty game and I was the only one,” Boyd said. “So I kind of thought if we all did it, we’d definitely beat them.”
Boyd’s game-high four goals against Liberty (0-3) didn’t hurt, either. She scored two early goals to help the Falcons build an 8-5 lead and added two more in the final 10 minutes during a 4-0 Fauquier run.
Whiskers weren’t all that carried over from Fauquier’s upset win against Liberty last season. Fauquier coach Paul Stuart said he used that game to help motivate the Falcons for this season’s showdown.
“That gave us confidence for this one,” Stuart said. “I told them, ‘Remember last year, no matter what. You overcame two losses to the same team, and you beat them, so they’re gonna want to beat you today. You can’t let that happen, especially on your home turf.’”
Meanwhile, Liberty co-coaches Ken McInnis and Kim Helsel made little mention of the loss that ended Liberty’s 2008 season.
“Because most of these girls weren’t there,” said McInnis, a first-year coach who has just two returning starters on his roster. “It’s pretty much a new team.”
Like Liberty, Fauquier lost players to graduation and to Kettle Run, but Stuart still has the services of seven returning starters. With that experience, the Falcons appear improved since finishing 3-7 in 2008.
“We’re pleasantly surprised, and the girls’ confidence is building up each game,” Stuart said. “They’ve done a good job, and the wins they’ve had have been pretty solid wins…Psychologically they’re in a good spot right now, and talent-wise they’re improving.”
Fauquier’s aggressive play was an asset against Liberty and it led to three goals for Jessica Moon and two apiece for Sky Cope and Claire Spector.
“They were intense…Every ground ball there were at least two girls from Fauquier going after it,” McInnis said. “When my girls asked me what they should do, I told them, ‘Do that.’ [Fauquier] wanted the ground balls more.”
As a result, Liberty could only muster five goals. Heather McInnis led the Eagles offensively, but, as the focal point of Fauquier’s defense, she only scored twice. Ellie Barrett shadowed McInnis much of the night and often used the aid of a double-team.
“I think [she] pretty much shut Heather down pretty good,” Stuart said of Barrett. “She did a great job.”
While McInnis and fellow returning starter Kensey Norman were both all-district selections last season, they are now only two of five players with varsity experience.
“It’s definitely a re-build,” said Ken McInnis (who is Heather's father). “We have some weapons, but it’s rebuilding everything else.”
(For complete article, see March 25 edition of the Fauquier Times-Democrat)
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