<b>Coach:</b> Michele Gates, fourth season (30-16)
<b>2007 Record:</b> 13-5
<b>Key Losses:</b> A Callie Hoyt, D Kelsey Thistlewaite, Luci Brinn.
<b>Key Players: </b>M Brittany Griel, JR; M Katie Stillwell, JR; M Liz Dunwoody, SO; M Christina Patten, SR.
<b>Quotable:</b> “That is a big deal, you can’t stop seven girls from scoring,” – head coach Michele Gates
<b>Outlook:</b> Last year, the Chantilly girls lacrosse team had a breakthrough year, going 13-5 and posting a 6-3 record in Concorde District play. Head coach Michele Gates isn’t interested in letting that success be a one time thing.
“The whole point of building a program is to make sure that each year is a good year, not just one good year,” said Gates, who was last year’s Concorde District coach of the year. “Hopefully we can continue that this year.”
The Chargers return junior first-team all-region midfielder Brittany Griel, whom Gates believe will be the focus of their opponents defensive game plan.
“If I was a coach playing against her, I would do something to annoy her,” said Gates. “If another team was looking at her, they would feel like that would be the girl to watch out for.”
That is exactly what Gates wants to happen.
“I hope that other teams just focus on Brittany, but that is the whole point,” she said. “In our last game, we had a least seven girls score. That is a big deal, you can’t stop seven girls from scoring.”