FAIRMONT — It’s pretty much a given in sports that, all things being equal, the team that brings more intensity to the field will more often than not come out on top.
And after Saturday afternoon’s girls’ lacrosse state tournament semifinal match between Fairmont Senior and Morgantown, there was no doubt which team brought its “A” game to East-West Stadium. The Polar Bears jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first half and cruised to a convincing 10-5 win.
“I told our girls that we split with MHS during the regular season, but that I didn’t think we played our best in either game,” Fairmont Senior coach Jon Cain said afterwards. “So I challenged them to play with the same level of intensity we had against our other big rivals, University, a team we swept. And they did a great job.”
The Polar Bears (21-5), deep and experienced with a whopping 17 seniors on their roster, looked to play fast and pressure the young Mohigans (15-5) from endline to endline. That pressure led to numerous transition opportunities and quality chances. Seven minutes in, Natalie Mazalon scored on a low shot from in front, and Fairmont Senior was off and running. By the time 15 minutes of the first half clock had elapsed, FSHS had powered out to a 4-0 lead, prompting a timeout from MHS coach Rich Farber.
It didn’t help, at least not at first. Three minutes later, Kennedy Wilfong picked the high corner over the shoulder of Morgantown goalkeeper Madison Adkins (the senior played well throughout the game, recording 7 saves), extending the advantage to 5-0.
MHS finally dented the scoreboard ten seconds later when Samantha Gray, effective on faceoffs all day, flipped the ball to herself, raced through the defense, and bounced a shot past Polar Bears goalie Chloe Orsborn. A minute later, Madilyn Shaffer’s slick pass found Kieana Thomas cutting in front, and she buried the shot to give the Mohigans new hope, 5-2. But a Morgantown penalty shot with less than two minutes remaining deflected off Orsborn and then the post, and the Polar Bears countered in transition. When Wilfong again sniped a shot in the corner, Fairmont Senior made it 6-2 at the half.
Hoping for an early second half push, Morgantown instead gave up another transition chance and high shot goal from Mazalon just one minute in. Molly Wiles responded two minutes later, but then Fairmont Senior immediately responded to the potential Morgantown rally with two quick backbreakers from Mazalon and Olivia Esposito to make it 9-3.
The Polar Bears were able to grind clock for ten minutes until Cora Hilling provided one last gasp for the Mohigans with a pair of late goals to close the gap to 9-5 with 7:52 left. But when Rhyann Cochran scored with 6 minutes remaining, that was the final dagger.
“They are definitely the best team in the state,” Farber insisted, “and if we were going to lose, we’d rather lose to the best. They just came out ready, and we were flat, and we never could get to our game. When you’re young (only Adkins, Alex Love, and Sakina Ali are graduating), and have a short bench, it’s really tough to come back from a big hole. And any time we did get a chance, Chloe [Orsborn] was a wall between the pipes. Any time a goalie makes 13 saves against you, it’s gonna be tough to win.
“We’re proud of our girls,” he continued, “proud of the season we had, and we’re looking forward to hopefully taking the next step next year.”
The Polar Bears travel to Dunbar Saturday to face George Washington — winners against University in the other semifinal game.
“If we bring the same intensity and avoid silly penalties,” Cain stated, “I think we’ve got a great shot.”
