Centreville — Softball: The Lady Wildcats came out on top of their `rematch week’ with big wins against Herndon on Tuesday, May 1st and Westfield on Friday, May 4th. They have two wins against Robinson, one loss each to Chantilly and Oakton, and have split with Herndon and Westfield, bringing their record to 4-4 in the Concorde District.
In the Herndon game, the bats came alive after the Hornets took an early 3-0 lead. The Wildcat's scored four runs in the third inning and were on top the rest of the game with a final score of 8-5. When the Wildcats took on the Westfield Bulldogs on the road, they pounced early and the score flipped flopped for several innings before the Wildcats broke away in the top of the seventh to score six runs for a final score of 11-6.
Two district games remain this week to close out regular season play. Tuesday's May 8th matchup, earlier this week, was scheduled against Oakton, and was going to be a celebration of Teacher Appreciation Night and SYA night. Friday's May 11th game is slated to pit the Lady Wildcats against Chantilly and will honor six players during Senior Night.
Boys Lacrosse (Varsity): Not too many games feature players on each team who have all grown up together, playing lacrosse on the same Southwest Youth Association teams. In the final game of both team’s regular season, the Centreville boys varsity lacrosse team defeated cross-town and Concorde District rival Westfield High, 11-8. Despite a 5-3 deficit at the half, Centreville came out strong in the third quarter, scoring several unanswered goals to tie the game. The lead went back and forth until midway through the fourth quarter when the Wildcats took control of the game.
Senior Zack Sikora and junior Andy Balberde were leading scorers for Centreville with three goals each. Also helping with goals were Danny Meador (2); Nathan Marks (1); Tyler Vennergrund (1); and Chase Heiner (1). Lending assists to the goals were Zack Sikora, Andy Balberde and Nathan Marks. The Wildcat’s defense was led by strong performances by Jake Hyde and Antonio Choi, who were able to minimize Westfield’s normally powerful attack. Netminder Pat Prosser played a phenomenal game. Centreville was strong throughout the game with key ground balls by Kainoa O’Connor, Sean Doyle and Chase Heiner, which helped prevent crucial Westfield possessions late in the game. From start to finish, the Wildcats played strong team defense. Westfield struggled to clear the ball all night due to the strong rides from the Wildcat’s attack and middies. Centreville ends their varsity boys lacrosse season with 10 wins and four losses.
Boys Lacorsse (JV): A recent weekend got off to a good start for the Centreville JV boys lacrosse team with an 11-3 victory over Herndon on Friday, April 27. The tone was set in the first quarter on Wildcat goals by Aaron Mendenhall, Alex Rizzi, and Kyle Roarty. Mark Mahoney got an assist and Rizzi got two, one coming off a steal behind the Herndon goal. Herndon scored with nine seconds left in the first quarter, but Centreville’s defense held the Hornets in check for the rest of the half while Wildcats Rizzi and Corey Spriggs added goals. Great stick checks and pressure throughout the game limited the number of Herndon shots on goal. The Wildcat defense is anchored by Michael Bollman, Ben Kandel, Josh Kim, Charlie Suarez and goalie Kyle Evans.
Fancy footwork and steals led to third quarter Centreville goals by Elliot Cunningham (2) and Tommy Bowden. The Hornets managed their second goal of the game in the fourth quarter, but a quick response came from Tommy Callahan, with an assist from John McKittrick. The Wildcats gave up a man-down goal with three minutes to go, but Cunningham dodged through the Hornet defense for a hat trick goal and Callahan scored again off a nice feed from Tyler Nevlud for the final score of 11-3.
The Centreville JV boys’ lacrosse team dropped its last game of the season by a score of 10-4 on Wednesday, May 2 at Westfield. Stunned by a Bulldog goal in the first 12 seconds of the game, the Wildcats struck back quickly with three goals of their own. A shot that bounced out of the crease was snagged by Elliot Cunningham, who converted the rebound for a 1-1 tie. A few minutes later Alex Rizzi scored an unassisted goal for the lead after sprinting from behind the goal. Several more trips up and down the field provided a lot of action, but not many shots until Cunningham made another goal with an assist from Rizzi. Westfield scored at the horn as the first ended with a score of 3-2.
Westfield tied the game in the second quarter, but the Wildcats regained the lead on an amazing, falling-down shot by Cunningham. The Bulldog defense tightened after that and its offense did a better job controlling the ball, surging with four more goals before the half. Westfield continued to win face-offs in the second half and used a very deliberate offense to maintain possession, scoring once more in the third and twice in the fourth quarter. The JV boys finished the season with a record of 6-4-1.
Girls Lacrosse: On Wednesday, May 2, the Centreville girls lacrosse team advanced to an 11-1 record with a strong 12-9 triumph over their biggest rival, the Westfield Bulldogs. The evening began with a salute to Centreville’s senior players, team captains Hayley Anderson and Maggie Dulkerian, and goalie Ayana Teran, and ended with the Lady Wildcats taking out years of frustration on their old foe.
At the initial face-off, Westfield made it known that they were in it to win - CVHS Senior Night or not. However, after allowing two goals and being down by two for the first quarter of the game, Centreville had had enough. Taking the lead in an offensive barrage was junior midfielder Carly Sane, with five goals, two ground balls, three draw controls, and one caused turnover.
Teran was magnificent in net, showing no hint that this was her first season. Getting past the defense time and time again was freshman attacker Reagan Newell, who had seven shots on goal and drove home three, proving that Westfield’s power was in their goalie. Newell also added two assists, two ground balls, a draw control, and one caused turnover. Freshman midfielder Caroline Wakefield was remarkable with two goals and three assists (6 ground balls, 5 draw controls, and 3 caused turnovers).
At the half, the Lady Wildcats led by two with center midfielder Anderson (1 goal, 1 assist) immediately dominating in the center circle and moving the Wildcats one goal closer to the win. Despite trading goals throughout the second half, Westfield never managed to take the lead again. Also scoring for Centreville was sophomore Katherine Zempolich (1 goal, 2 ground balls, 1 draw control, 1caused turnover). Each player’s intensity on the field left no spectator in doubt of the rivalry between Centreville and Westfield. However, the Lady Wildcats were the decisive winners of this game.
Earlier this week, the Centreville girls’ entered the Concorde District playoffs ranked first for the first time in school history. They were scheduled to face off on their home field against fourth-ranked Robinson.
Track and FieldBy M. King
The Wildcat track team competed in the Draper Invitational in Alexandria against a bevy of private schools, as well as Concorde District opponent Herndon. Highlights for the Centreville squad included a 20-foot, 3.5 inches, first place finish in the boys’ long jump by Philip Christophe.
Christophe, who is committed to CNU next school year, also placed fourth in the triple jump.
The boys 4x800 relay team of Chris and Calvin Jones, Daniel Molina and Chan Lee Young captured that event with a time of 8:08.75.
Senior Sara Emsley once again secured Centreville points with a 94-feet, 8 inches, second place finish in the discus, while her counterpart in the boys event, Nathan Milton, placed sixth with a throw of 125-feet, 6 inches.
Sophomore Maryn Wood scored twice for the Wildcats with a third place finish in the 100-meter dash, which she paired with a sixth place finish in the 200 dash.
Maryn’s time in the 200 prelims was a personal record time of 26.09. In her return to action following a foot injury, junior Rebecca Vinter placed sixth with a time of 2:25.39 in the girls’ 800 run, while senior Chris Jones ran a 2:00.99 to place fourth in the boys’ 800. In an impressive effort, leading wire-to-wire, McKinsey Smith scored her second season win in a freshman event by winning the girls’ freshman mile, with a time of 5:40.89. To match that victory, freshman Bobby Dunn passed his rivals with a kick down the stretch to capture the boy’s freshman mile, posting a time of 4:40.93.