A tale of two quarters: Fairview girls lacrosse staves off valiant Mead comeback
May 4—MEAD — When two girls lacrosse title contenders from different classifications meet up for their regular-season finale, fireworks are almost a guarantee.
Class 5A's third-ranked Fairview, riding a strong burst of energy from the first quarter, held off 4A's top dog, Mead, to pull off a 14-12 victory at Mead High School on a sunny Saturday afternoon. The Mavericks lit up the scoreboard in the fourth quarter but couldn't quite dig themselves out of the hole that the Knights shoved them into heading to the final frame.
The Mavericks' last game of the regular season marked their first loss, bringing them to a 14-1 record heading into CHSAA's Selection Sunday. The Knights, by comparison, improved to 11-3 despite missing one of their best players, senior attacker Finnley Dancy, who sat out with an injury that she suffered the night before.
No common bystander would have known the Knights weren't playing at full strength. Dancy already boasts 22 goals and eight assists and will play a vital role through their push toward a possible state championship should she be able to return.
"This whole team works really well together," said freshman attacker Julia Norris, who finished the game with a team-high four goals. "I think that we play really well as a whole team. We don't really have that many individual players. When we lost a great player like Finnley, we still came back and won the game."
Fairview busted out to a fiery 5-0 lead through the first eight minutes of play and nearly kept the Mavericks scoreless through the entire first quarter. Mead ended that suspense with a goal in the last 25 seconds, then slowly regained its footing through the second frame.
The Knights led 9-4 at the half, then ballooned that advantage to 14-5 with 5:48 left in the game. That's when Mead senior midfielder Rory Carr started dominating the draw controls to hand the Mavericks the crucial possessions they had lacked up until that point.
Carr, who transferred in from a strong Thompson Valley team after it shuttered, then put up three of her five goals down the stretch. She padded a 7-0 Mead run to close things out. The Mavericks, apparently, saved the best for last.
"Draw controls are definitely something we struggled (with)," Carr said. "(Fairview) getting possessions all of the first half was definitely what was dictating the game. I feel like once we figured it out, pushing the ball to those 50-50s — my teammates on the circle really helped me out. I think, once we got a handle on that, our confidence showed everywhere else. Our offense started working better."
The Mavericks, having tasted a string of tough tests lately thanks to Fairview and 4A No. 3 Evergreen, can now hit the reset button heading into the postseason. In year two, they're hoping to replicate the incredible success of their inaugural season.
It's not easy being the defending champs, what with everyone using them for target practice. Carr is just another weapon in a very stacked arsenal for the Mavericks.
"It's definitely a tough game to play right before playoffs, but I think it also is really going to help us," Carr said. "We know what we're capable of now within just that last five minutes. We know we can go into these games really hard. That's some really big competition right there that we might not see in 4A.
"Playing for Thompson was so fun. We were so close every year, but I really think this program is something special, and we all want it. We're all there. I'm really excited to be part of this team and be in playoffs with them this year."
