Broad Run Couldn't Catch Up to Chantilly

By Jeff Nelson

Monday, June 2, 2008

The 15-8 final score might indicate that Chantilly's girls had their way with Broad Run in yesterday's Virginia High School League lacrosse quarterfinal, but there was a time when Chargers junior Katie Stillwell worried about the way things were going.

After visiting Broad Run scored a pair of goals midway through the second half to cut its deficit to 9-6, Stillwell sensed some sluggishness from her teammates.

With that in mind, she took it upon herself to energize the Chargers by not only scoring a goal, but also following it with a celebration more animated than her previous two.

"We needed a goal to get our spirits up," Stillwell said. "It's hot out, in the first half everyone was tired, and we needed someone to spark our enthusiasm and get us working together."

After scoring her third goal of the afternoon, Stillwell took a celebratory trot toward a few teammates, pumping her stick and shaking her head.

When that was mentioned after the game to Chantilly's Liz Dunwoody, who had three goals, the sophomore laughed.

"She has a great attitude and she's always out there getting everybody riled up," Dunwoody said. "That did not surprise me."

It didn't surprise Chantilly Coach Michele Gates either.

"Katie's a junior leader," Gates said. "They all try to step up and if one does, they all kind of fall in line and they all want to help and contribute and be a part of it. She does that for us."

The Chargers (16-2), who will face Albemarle at Westfield on Wednesday, followed Stillwell's goal with four of the game's next five and played noticeably better against Broad Run (15-5) over the final 11 minutes.

"I think when we get pumped up, it's hard to stop us," said Stillwell, who finished with five goals. "When we get pumped, we love passing and we start passing more. And on defense, we talk more. So it just works for us."

Tagged: Broad Run, lacrosse

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