VHSL Girls Lacrosse Spring 2023

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Usually teams slow the ball down to eat clock when they have a lead with 3 or 4 minutes left. The only big outlier I know was Madison doing it for the last 9 minutes against Oakton with only a one goal lead. If folks have other examples of this being an issue I would like to hear them. I believe shot clock is in the high school rules, but only if all the schools have one. It’s probably a budget issue.

Sounds like Oakton did it above (vs Woodson) just last night if observer is correct - and 13 minutes is like 1/4 of the game(!)...

I get the safety calls on shots/shooting space/in the sphere etc. But if it's really that hard to generate turnover, they need to either relax some of the perimeter rules or mandate shot clock (can't the table just keep and call out 10 sec countdown vs install clocks at both ends?). These game end situations - which should be the most exciting part of game - sound boring as heck if they're just safety whistles, re-starts and keep away.

[Anonymous]

Oakton may have won and slowing down the ball helped but they didn’t protect the ball very well with turnovers. If they hadn’t of won the amount of draws they did it could have been a different game. Do that against Robinson and they will be looking in from the outside of the finals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Robinson 7
Madison 6
FINAL

Guess there are a lot of fools on this board.

Not this guy ... Robinson one of the elite (top 5%). Madison is a great team too despite the loss and had an amazing season!

And to think Yorktown beat Robinson convincingly 14-5 at the beginning of the season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Feel bad for them? For what? 70 degree temp at start time.


I would guess they having a great time on road trip with their team and families competing for a state title.

More like 93 degrees at Battlefield. But if you are Ocean Lakes, you get go home to the beach tonight win or lose, while Battlefield goes home to Haymarket. So Ocean Lakes is winning either way....

I guess. But Virginia Beach is not that great a beach. Reminds me of Ocean City, MD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oakton up 7-1 with about 10 minutes remaining. Oakton's staff of 9 coaches just too much for the Cavaliers to handle ...

This made me laugh 😂

+1 One of the funniest posts on this thread.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oakton was up 7-1 then packed it in with 13 mins to go. played keep away with 13 mins instead of putting the game away. The outcome was never in jeopardy. Woodson and Oakton goalies played so well. Woodson flatly outmatched tonite. Oakton’s defense was ridiculously good. Good luck walking up the hill as you may get “rolled” back down. The lack of intensity comment is very funny and won’t age well. It’s the state semis. really?

As long-time coach/parent of boys game, can I ask perhaps dumb question about girls game: why is "keep-away" so prevalent/option in girls game? Sure you can stall/possess ball/move ball quickly in both - but have heard from multiple observers (and this thread) how often girls team get lead with 5/6/13 mins to go and they just play keep away... Is it really that hard to stick check loose, double ball, blind slide or otherwise get ball to ground to get possession? Is there no keep-it-in rule? Like the free-flowing nature of girls game but these endings sound terrible and boring with keep away strategy - legitimately just curious...

This is why they need to bring the shot clock to the girls high school game. It’s only a matter of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Interesting semi-final. Oakton is 17-0 vs any team not named Madison and Robinson has won 16 straight vs any team not named Woodson. Best game plan for each may be to borrow jerseys from Woodson and Madison.

Since that won’t likely happen, here are the odds…

Oakton -2 over Robo (o/u 16)

Colgan just played its two toughest games of the season and maybe started to toughen up. Not a gimme, but Battlefield coaches win this one.

Battlefield -3 over Colgan (o/u 23)

Agree with this assessment.

[Anonymous]

I saw the championship will be held at Freedom. What happened to it being at champe?

[Anonymous]

What are the schedules? Multiple sites have differing info. Didn’t see they moved championship to Freedom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the games I have seen this year have been so slow and boring to watch. Yes they are still laying lax and yes there are transitions, but agree with other pps, that seeing a tend when a team is up a couple goals, they just kill clock. Also agree with a pp when a public school has 1 or 2 main players that do all the scoring, they tend to kill clock. Prime example is oakton, not picking on them but they really have 2 main players, maybe 3 (but she runs hot and cold) that do 90 percent of the scoring or more. And all they do is basically kill clock the whole game.
There’s no real coaching or strategy going on besides keep away.

Not true. I’ve seen every Oakton game this season, and Oakton doesn’t hold the ball with a lead until the 3 or 4 minute mark near the end of the game (which any smart team would do). They will also burn some time setting up a play, but it’s not a stalling tactic, much of that is dictated by the opposing defense. That said, a shot clock would improve play across the board, forcing teams to move the ball faster on the offensive end.

Agree here. There is a difference between a stall and working some time off of the clock. It's a defensive strategy, especially if you are struggling a little on the draw. Work the clock a little and then make sure it is a quality look, which does often come from one of the better players. You see it in college when they hold the ball a little and don't really initiate the offense until 25s or so left, similar ideas but within the constrains of the shot clock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the schedules? Multiple sites have differing info. Didn’t see they moved championship to Freedom.

Soccer was moved to Champe because they didn’t participate in full Championship atmosphere like all the other teams.

[Anonymous]

Freedom has a tricky field if you have never played on it. No bounce.

[Anonymous]

Disagree with a pp. oaktons offense is based off a slow stall. The only time they actually play up temp is when they are on transition. Otherwise it’s a slow boring game to watch with them, and other teams as well.
Sooner or later the slow or stall base offense will come back to haunt them, like the regional game vs Madison.
Oaktons defense is solid but definitely has weaker defenders and not used to playing an offense that can move the ball quickly, they also don’t talk as much and will absolutely let up a couple goals based on no talking.
Robinson says high

[Anonymous]

SSSA moves the ball better than Robinson I can assure you. Oakton’s defense looked pretty good that game and held them to 7 goals. Also held Woodson who beat Robo last 2 times to 4 goals. Guess we will see if Oakton says hi back. Does Robo have the defense to stymie the boring oakton offense?

[Anonymous]

I’ll take oakton by 4 or 5. Oaktons defense is too strong and no question that’s oaktons strength. If Robinson’s defense can hold, should be a great match, minus the sub par coaches from oakton.