VHSL Girls Lacrosse Spring 2023

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the two Yorktown players referenced don’t play this season 6A will not have an overwhelming favorite. Battlefield will get their usual cakewalk to states. Outside this 6A seems up for grabs. In 5A Riverside’s best days are behind them. In 4A Dominion has one year left before their program drops off.

Where will the two Yorktown players be?

The rumor is some of their best players are sticking to their #1 sport which is not lacrosse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just my two cents, so take it for what it's worth. Within 6A the favorite has to go to:
Oakton this year, but make no bones about it, it's the only year they have a shot at states as they have nothing coming up in the pipeline after their core senior group graduates and will suffer for years. They have 2 very good middies but it will boil down to how well the coach understands his players strengths and weaknesses and of course not riding his players into the ground to prevent injury. Oakton is very predictable at what they do, if they change it up, they could go all the way.
Yorktown is right behind Oakton, pending if the rumors are true and a couple key players decide not to play this year. Strong head coach that knows the game and how to teach the game, excellent at planning ahead for big games.
Battlefield looks very good this year with a solid goalie and core group of seniors. Question is- can they hang with the top Fairfax County teams
Woodson will always be in contention to fight for states, couple solid players and goalie position with some key veterans coming back. Question is- can the coach actually coach his players and come up with a good game plan.
Robinson will be in contention as well as they always have athletes but lost some key players from last year. Some decent talent coming up the ranks but do they have the horses to keep up with the other teams mentioned above??
Langley lost a ton of players last year but is on the way down to being an average public school team. Their achilles heal is their head coach, she has no respect from the players and parents and doesnt understand how to use her players wisely and actually coach in big games. With that said, they will be way stronger on defense as a whole with a rock solid goalie and a couple athletic defenders to anchor her. Offense will be mediocre at best with only really one attacker and middie.
Cville- This is my pick for my sleeper team, dont count them out as they have a great coach who knows the game and building a solid program. They have a couple athletes that can play, but their weakness will be on defense. Don't take them lightly as they will come back to bite you.
Madison- Couple returning seniors but they will be slightly above average but will not make a run at states. Just like Langley, their reign is over and on the downfall. Their coach needs to step up and start building the program from the youth on up, some decent younger talent but they will rely heavily on a couple seniors.

Again, just my opinion, you are welcome to disagree, but i think the big factor will be injuries. If one of these teams loses a key player or two, they are cooked.

Here are my thoughts based on the conversations above:

- Oakton is easily the favorite in my opinion. They have a solid midfield line with returning POY Jenkins leading the charge. They will miss some goals from Howell (graduation), but I think they will roll this season. Seems like they have some experience coming back on defense as well which always helps. They will be tough to beat! Who can stop Jenkins? Better have a really good middy/defender.. She scored 8-9 goals in the district championship last season vs Madison. Need to stay healthy.

- Robinson I have not seen play over the off season, but it looks like they will also be tough. They have a few D1 commits and some depth, but not sure if their commits are the same caliber as some of the other schools. Defensively I am not sure how strong they are? Would love to hear more thoughts on Robinson's team..

- Yorktown is a huge question mark. Without 3 of their top players from last year, plus losing 2 leading scorers to graduation (#5 & #14). We will see what kind of depth they have and if they can replace last years "stars". Bump them down a bit in rankings if the rumors are true! They are still well coached and have a solid program (adding in 8th graders on JV helps a lot). So I still think they will be a top team and competitive. We will find out next week if the rumors are true!

- Battlefield graduated their best player last year (#7). She received the "State POY" nod, but I think we can all agree that there were 3-4 girls better than her. I don’t see BF replacing her and I see her leaving a big gap to fill on offense and especially on the circle (draw specialist as well). Defensively they will struggle again, but have a solid goalie (D1 commit). But we all know if your best player is your goalie... good luck! I don’t see the hype around BF, but understand the circumstances that they will be in the conversation based on who they play and the easy route to the state finals.

- Centreville was previously considered a young team, but now seems to have some experience. Injuries hurt them early last year, not having some key players until district play. They also have a lot of talent and experienced players returning with a few D1 commits. The question is can they compete with Oakton in the district?

- Westfield will be more competitive this season - they have some talent returning and are a young team, but not sure they have the depth quiet yet.

* Looking ahead to some of the schedules and it looks like a lot of these match ups will take place before the playoffs, which will be a great test! What games are you all circling?

[Anonymous]

My thoughts as well-
Overall, the level of play and talent dropped in public school over the years especially from last year to this year, for many different reasons.
Oakton has to be the favorite, but agree with a PP that the team and players are extremely predictable and easily scoutable. Shut down 1 or 2 players and they have no offense and will fail. The Jenkins kid can easily be defended by an athlete, shes a great player, but will fall short once she goes up against a bigger stringer athletic defender. Their head coach needs to step aside and let the assistants do their job. Any smart opposing coach can easily pick apart oakton and find their weak spots.
Yorktown, well, that depends on the rumors if their stars are coming back. Nevertheless, they still will put up a fight for a run at states. If you give their head coach time, she will figure it out and develop a master plan.
Langley, they are on the downfall and falling hard and fast. Bad move by the DSA to hire their current head coach as she completely destroyed the program last year, no backing from the parents or players and she doesnt understand how to lead and coach. Simply stated, they will be about 500 win percentage this year and not make a run.
Madison will be, so so. They have some weapons on offense, but their defense will be weak, especially in the goalie position. Look for them to take third place in their district and get knocked out early in regionals. Their head coach needs to step up her game and actually coach and invest time in the program, no more riding the coat tails of superstar players she inherited.
Robinson will put up a fight and can hang with the best public schools. However, they will fall short with not enough gas in the tank in the second half and will end up losing by 5-6 goals against the tougher teams. Just not a ton of depth.
Woodson will also be a tougher game and do have some experience and weapons, but lack the depth like Robinson to really compete.
Cville- This is the team to watch out for and will come back to make you pay if you take them lightly. Excellent smart coaches that will outcoach most anyone in the public system. The question is, do they have the experience, composure and depth to outlast some of the running and gunning from the better teams. I think they can..
Battlefield will breeze to the state finals as they play no one in their district and region. Yes they are playing some of the Fairfax county teams, but remember, the teams they scheduled are now weak like Langley, so Bfield should easily beat them. This will install a false sense of confidence that they can hang, but time will tell.
In the end, I think anyone of those teams on any given day can beat each other and will boild down to coaching, execution and injury prevention.

[Anonymous]

Nice summaries above. I’m not as sold on Oakton, but do think they have a great chance to win it all because talent is down across the board this year. There doesn’t seem to be one dominant team with the Yorktown players sitting out.

The Oakton player mentioned plays a bit out of control. Coaches should bring this to the refs attention before games. Have them look for charging, warding, and slashing on redefends. She received a yellow against our team and could have been called for many more. I agree with others if you defend her with a good athletic defender she will be neutralized. And more than likely she will receive fouls or cards. Oakton’s Rhode Island commit is the better player on the that team.

I think the level of play in 6A will drop off this year, but more teams will be in the mix.

[Anonymous]

I agree 6A is more wide open this year. While the above mentioned are the favorites, I would not be surprised to see a few other teams not mentioned emerge in the mix as contenders. If I knew who they will be, I would be playing the lottery not surfing DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nice summaries above. I’m not as sold on Oakton, but do think they have a great chance to win it all because talent is down across the board this year. There doesn’t seem to be one dominant team with the Yorktown players sitting out.

The Oakton player mentioned plays a bit out of control. Coaches should bring this to the refs attention before games. Have them look for charging, warding, and slashing on redefends. She received a yellow against our team and could have been called for many more. I agree with others if you defend her with a good athletic defender she will be neutralized. And more than likely she will receive fouls or cards. Oakton’s Rhode Island commit is the better player on the that team.

I think the level of play in 6A will drop off this year, but more teams will be in the mix.

Last season she was Oakton's best player. Yes the RI commit is good as well and was last year, but she may be their best player this year. They are both very good on the draw circle as well... I think that is where they beat most teams!

[Anonymous]

oaktons offense and players are totally predictable, thats their downfall and their coach doesn't change a thing, so those 2 players can easily be stopped. Plus, all they do is feed from the left side with a right handed cut to one of those 2 players. If opposing teams cant figure ut how to stop 2 players, they have bigger problems.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree 6A is more wide open this year. While the above mentioned are the favorites, I would not be surprised to see a few other teams not mentioned emerge in the mix as contenders. If I knew who they will be, I would be playing the lottery not surfing DCUM.

McLean would be on that list. They have a returning junior who is a W&M commit plus several Pride black girls.

6A suffers way too much talent loss due to private schools.

[Anonymous]

“Battlefield will breeze to the state finals as they play no one in their district and region. Yes they are playing some of the Fairfax county teams, but remember, the teams they scheduled are now weak like Langley, so Bfield should easily beat them. This will install a false sense of confidence that they can hang, but time will tell.

I have seen this reasoning in another forum. If Battlefield is playing Yorktown, Woodson, Madison, Langley, Centreville all teams mentioned in these summaries. Who else would they have to play that according to you isn’t having a down year in 6A?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Battlefield will breeze to the state finals as they play no one in their district and region. Yes they are playing some of the Fairfax county teams, but remember, the teams they scheduled are now weak like Langley, so Bfield should easily beat them. This will install a false sense of confidence that they can hang, but time will tell.

I have seen this reasoning in another forum. If Battlefield is playing Yorktown, Woodson, Madison, Langley, Centreville all teams mentioned in these summaries. Who else would they have to play that according to you isn’t having a down year in 6A?

Battlefield has begged and pleaded for several years to be included in discussions about being one of the best teams in the area. The problem is they didn’t schedule any of the best teams those years. And they lost to the few good teams they scrimmaged or played in those years. Add to this their district and region may be the weakest of all 6A/5A/4A regions.

To Battlefields credit they did schedule a few teams that in the past had strong teams - Yorktown, Langley, Riverside. It’s been noted by others in this forum that Yorktown will be missing its best players and will not be the same team this year. Langley will not be the Langley of recent past, and Riverside will not be good this year. 6A will not be as strong this year as in years past, so Battlefield will have missed out once again on proving themselves against the best in the area. To do this they needed to schedule the top privates in the area like Madison, Oakton, Dominion, Riverside have done the past few years. They didn’t do this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Battlefield will breeze to the state finals as they play no one in their district and region. Yes they are playing some of the Fairfax county teams, but remember, the teams they scheduled are now weak like Langley, so Bfield should easily beat them. This will install a false sense of confidence that they can hang, but time will tell.

I have seen this reasoning in another forum. If Battlefield is playing Yorktown, Woodson, Madison, Langley, Centreville all teams mentioned in these summaries. Who else would they have to play that according to you isn’t having a down year in 6A?

Battlefield has begged and pleaded for several years to be included in discussions about being one of the best teams in the area. The problem is they didn’t schedule any of the best teams those years. And they lost to the few good teams they scrimmaged or played in those years. Add to this their district and region may be the weakest of all 6A/5A/4A regions.

To Battlefields credit they did schedule a few teams that in the past had strong teams - Yorktown, Langley, Riverside. It’s been noted by others in this forum that Yorktown will be missing its best players and will not be the same team this year. Langley will not be the Langley of recent past, and Riverside will not be good this year. 6A will not be as strong this year as in years past, so Battlefield will have missed out once again on proving themselves against the best in the area. To do this they needed to schedule the top privates in the area like Madison, Oakton, Dominion, Riverside have done the past few years. They didn’t do this.

Battlefield would get killed by any private school like SSSA or Visi - as would 99% of public teams in NOVA. In my opinion this would be a waste of time to schedule, especially when they lost by 10 to Yorktown...

I think BF did a good job "trying" to make their schedule harder this year, unfortunately it's late with powerhouses like Madison and Langley who are now very down talent wise. BF schedule WILL be much harder this year, despite the down year. Anything is better than them playing their district twice and winning 10+ games by 10+ goals.... I counted that BF had 15 BLOWOUT wins last year... this is strictly based on the competition they played against.

You don’t have to schedule private school teams to have a "tough" schedule lol. It is smart to schedule teams you will see in the playoffs, a good example is Yorktown's schedule last year. In the past these private school games have not been competitive for the "powerhouse" publics. For example Madison lost to SSSA last year 17-8... That is not competitive by any stretch... And Madison was pretty legit last year with Condon and Pisani leading the way. BF is better off playing Centreville and Yorktown than a private school team - they need experience playing in competitive games - no good to get blown out by SSSA.

Who's schedule in 6A is considered "tough" in 2023??[i]

[Anonymous]

You forget Madison played the private state champs at STAB in a tight game 13-10 last year….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand the talk about centreville? Really, what’s going on out there? Can someone explain the hype around them?
Not trying to bad mouth them or anything and maybe I missed something going on out there. Thanks!

I hate to admit I asked these questions and posted it. 😣

I asked some girls I coached about them and watched some video. They are extremely well coached, have quite a few very good players (currently 4 D1 commits), seem to be scrappy and looked hungry. Problem is they seemed to have a lot of injuries early in last season.

One of the girls I spoke to who is friends with a couple of Cville girls said, to make things worse for other teams, they’ve added a few very good players and the entire team is gelled and on the same page.

Dang, the *Hillbillies are good again!

* saw some people call them this on other forums and some threads here. I think this may have kicked open a hornet’s nest out there if they have seen it.

[Anonymous]

Battlefield is the Hillbillies, get it right….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You forget Madison played the private state champs at STAB in a tight game 13-10 last year….

That’s great! But their season still ended earlier than expected. In my opinion, they would have been better off scheduling Langley in the regular season and maybe they wouldn’t lose to them later on. I’m just saying, you don’t need to play private schools to have a tough schedule. Yes in general it helps if you can get more competitive games on your schedule, but like you’ve said multiple times that the talent is down in 6A.

I don’t think many teams this year have the talent and depth that Madison had last year.