By Duncan Nixon
Correspondent
The Fluco girls lacrosse team hosted the Goochland County High Bulldogs on May 2. The Flucos put the game away in the first half. After only two minutes of play, senior attacker Peyton Marshall gave the Flucos a 1-0 lead. After 10 minutes of play, freshman Savannah Peterson scored for a 2-0 lead. A minute later senior Teagan Bower made it 3-0, scoring on a penalty shot.
Goochland scored its first goal with 13:46 left in the half. The Flucos then went on a six-goal run to put the game away. Sophomore Lily Prater started the run, scoring off a penalty. Marshall followed with her second goal and Prater also scored for a second time, this time as a result of a stolen pass by the Flucos.
The Flucos moved the ball around the Bulldogs’ goal and sophomore Emmalyn Whyte scored from out front on a pass from behind the net. Junior midfielder Taylor Webber scored off a penalty, and Bower scored her second goal off a penalty to make it 9-1. As the first half wound down, the Bulldogs managed two scores to make the half time score 9-3.
The Flucos were in the scoring column only 30 seconds into the second half with freshman Mia Grace scoring for the first time, after a strong first half performance that did not result in any goals. The Bulldogs scored two minutes later.
The Flucos then went on another six-goal run, boosting their goal total to an impressive 16. It was still early in the second half when Bower scored her second consecutive goal off a penalty with a low bouncing shot. This goal gave the Flucos a ten-goal lead 14-4. In high school lacrosse when a team achieves a ten goal lead it is considered that the outcome is no longer in doubt and the clock is allowed to run without stopping it for the rest of the game. This is intended to keep scoring margins from becoming embarrassingly high. While the clock was running down, Fluco freshman Aniya Fitch scored twice on penalty shots. Goochland scored its fifth goal with 10 minutes left and that ended the scoring.
After the game, Coach Jennifer Payne noted that she was pleased that her teams’ scoring was well spread out. She noted that although most of the Fluco goals came because of Bulldog penalties, assists were awarded to Whyte and to junior Sara Beth Robinson. Payne also praised the play of junior goalie Morgan Drumheller who was credited with 14 saves. One very impressive save came in the second half when Drumheller stopped a Bulldog shot made from point blank range.
Like all the spring sports seasons, the lacrosse season is winding down. The girls team was scheduled to finish its season with three away games. May 5 at Monticello High, May 9 at Orange County, and May16 at Charlottesville High.
