Girls Lacrosse: Cougars Victorious on Senior Night

With 12 seniors, five of whom have played on varsity since freshman year, the Oakton High girls lacrosse team had a tearful Senior Night celebration before their matchup against Woodgrove High on Wednesday. 

And though emotions may have played a part in keeping the game close, the Cougars broke out at the end of the second half to defeat the Wolverines 18-11. 

"Winning on Senior Night was such a big deal," Carly Palmucci said. "Woodgrove is a good team and I think we underestimated them a little bit. I think Senior Night was in our heads and we weren't focused the way we should've been. But we came back in the second half and made up for it."

After winning the faceoff, the Cougars scored within 15 seconds of the start of the game on a pass from Jackie Rupp to Carly Palmucci, who put the ball in the net. 

Though the Wolverines matched the Cougars' goal a few minutes later, the Cougars went on a 4-0 scoring spree — two goals from Rupp, one from Alex Revel and one from Kelsey Clarke, who also assisted on one of Rupp's goals — to stand at a 5-1 lead 10 minutes into the game. 

But the Wolverines went on a scoring spree of their own, scoring six goals before the end of the first half while the Cougars scored two on unassisted goals from Revel and Palmucci. The game stood tied 7-7 at halftime.

"I do think Senior Night played a part in our slow start," Coach Jean Counts said. "I had 95 percent of the team crying on the sidelines during the ceremony and then they had to get on the field and play."

The Cougars reclaimed the lead within the first minute of the second half on a goal from Rupp, then tacked on another one with a Revel-assisted goal from Palmucci. 

But the Wolverines answered with two points of their own to keep it tied, and even pulled ahead 10-9 with about 16 minutes left in the game. The game tied again with another goal from Rupp, her fourth of the game, but the Wolverines tacked on another point to take the lead again.

With about nine minutes left in the game, Revel scored her third goal to tie at 11. About 30 seconds later, Palmucci reclaimed the lead with a goal that proved to be the game-winner. 

"We finally got all the senior stuff out of our heads, and Jackie and Claire [Stikeleather] had a good game, that was a spark and it kept us going," said Palmucci, who scored a game-high five goals.

With new life in their offense, the Cougars add six more goals — two from Tori Anderson, two from Claire Stikeleather, one from Palmucci and one from Clarke — to put the final score at 18-11.

Goalkeeper Emily George made six saves in the win.

"With Senior Night, it's already a festive atmosphere," Counts said. "So to win is a big deal and it just feels right for them." 

Most of the seniors have played on the same club team together since they were young, so emotions ran high as the celebration highlighted how soon their lacrosse careers together will come to an end.

"We've all been playing together for so long, so it's really sad. But I was not emotional at all before I walked out, and then I saw [Coach Counts] and I got all emotional," Palmucci said. "She means everything to us and she's the reason we come out and win."

Counts said the friendship among the girls transfers to the field because they can read each other really well and they don't want to let each other down.

"These seniors are a tight-knit group. They hang out with each other all the time, and have since they were little. I feel like they're going to be together off the field for a long time," Counts said. 

The Cougars (2-1 Concorde) will travel to Westfield on Friday for a 7:15 p.m. district game.