West Potomac stuns Battlefield to earn a spot in boys' lacrosse title game

Washington Post

a day ago

It was time for Grant Maloney to go to the student section. Moments prior, the West Potomac senior had raced across the field to hug his teammates after the biggest win in their program's history. Before that, he had scored the goal that completed a second-half comeback and delivered a 9-8 win over Battlefield in Tuesday's Virginia Class 6 semifinal.
The students chanted Maloney's name and embraced him in a hug across the top of a silver chain-link fence. After his last game on his high school field, Maloney took in a program-changing moment.
'We always fight, baby,' he said. 'We're always fighting.'
Tuesday's appearance in the state semifinals was already the deepest run in West Potomac's boys lacrosse history. With the win, West Potomac (16-6) will have a shot at its first state title.
Battlefield (17-4) controlled the first half Tuesday and led 7-3 at halftime. West Potomac coaches said they made second-half defensive adjustments, and those resulted in the Wolverines outscoring Battlefield 6-1 in the second half. Maloney tied the game at seven, and after it was tied again at eight, Maloney scored the winner with 4:11 left to play.
'So many years there wasn't a culture of winning,' West Potomac coach John Stamos said. 'Now they have a culture of winning. We've always had the talent. It's just bringing it out.'
The end was fitting, as if the winning tally had to come from Maloney. A senior leader, he will play at Jacksonville University next year as one of the handful of West Potomac alumni to reach Division I. He won the Patriot District player of the year award and scored more than 50 goals this year as a midfielder.
Senior attacker Brendan Murray chipped in four goals Tuesday.
Stamos said his program's ascension required developing a stronger youth program and getting some players who might usually go to private school to stay with their local public option.
After the win, the coach had much to say about what it took to build his program. But when it came time to huddle up with his players and explain what this win meant, he was speechless. And as the celebration began, he realized the program's work wasn't done yet.
'I'm clicking gears and it's like, 'Oh Jesus, we've got three days to get ready,'" Stamos said.
West Potomac will face the winner of Wednesday's Class 6 semifinal: Robinson vs Cosby. West Potomac lost to Robinson (17-1) twice in the regular season, but beat the Rams in the Class 6 Region C championship game. The championship game is set for 10 a.m. Saturday at Douglas Freeman High School in Richmond.
Independence cruises in Class 5
Among remaining playoff teams, only Cosby has a better record than Independence (18-2). The Tigers will roll into the Class 5 final after beating Kellam, 15-3, in Monday's semifinal. They will face Douglas Freeman at 10 a.m. Saturday in Richmond.
Loudoun County returns to title game
Loudoun County, winners of 11 in a row after falling to Independence in April, beat Meridian, 12-11, Tuesday to advance to the Class 4 championship game. The Captains will face Salem at 10 a.m. Saturday in Charlottesville. This is the second straight year Loudoun County has reached the title game — it lost to Atlee in last year's final