Robinson long stick midfielder Jack Rowlett, right, scored three goals against South County on Saturday. Photo by Craig Sterbutzel.
The Robinson boys’ lacrosse team returned most of its firepower from last year’s state championship run, entered Saturday’s contest against South County with a 9-2 record and had won 26 of its previous 27 games against public school opponents, a streak dating back to early in the 2014 campaign.
In other words, the Rams are good. Real good.
But just in case there was any doubt whether Robinson has what it takes to compete for a second straight state title, the Rams put forth one of their best offensive efforts of the season on Saturday.
Facing a South County team, considered one of the best in the region, the Rams had seven different players score multiple goals during a 16-9 victory on May 2 at Robinson Secondary School.
“I’m starting to see the patience that I’m looking for offensively,” Robinson head coach Matt Curran said. “... This is huge, and one of the reasons is we’ve had some good offensive outputs, but not against a team no offense to the teams we’ve played but a team of this caliber. This was really big for our momentum. ... This was the type of victory we needed.”
South County entered the contest with a 10-2 record and briefly took a 4-3 lead on a goal with 2:53 remaining in the second quarter. Robinson responded with a pair of goals and led 5-4 at halftime.
Robinson led for the entire second half.
“I think this is one of the best games we’ve played all year,” said Jack
Rowlett, a senior long stick midfielder who will play for the University of North Carolina. “As a team, it wasn’t just one player shining. Everyone contributed ...”
Rowlett scored three goals Saturday, giving him 16 for the season.
“Getting a hat trick as a long stick, [Rowlett is] just such a weapon,” Curran said. “... Long stick middies, you don’t get that. You might have one or two goals on the year in a transition. Jack has 16 goals on the season and that’s just kind of unheard of with a long pole. He can dodge against anybody. If he has a shorty on him, he has the green light.”Senior attackman Chapman Jasien said Rowlett makes life difficult for opposing defenses.
“That’s huge coming from a long stick middie,” said Jasien, who will play college lacrosse for the Naval Academy. “That’s tough for another team; that’s tough to defend. We’ll kind of get out of his way and let him work on offense; let him get his shot ...
“Those shots really help us out a lot. We encourage it big time.”
Senior attackman Tommy Gallogly also recorded a hat trick for Robinson.
Senior midfielder Jack Smith, junior attackman Johnny Daniel, senior attackman Chris White, junior midfielder Austin Henry, and Jasien each scored two goals for the Rams.
“I think it’s good for us,” Rowlett said. “We’re hitting our stride at the right time. We started a little shaky, not playing as well as we could have. This is a big game for us to help us build toward the team we can be, the team we should be [come late] May, the beginning of June.”
Robinson defeated Oakton 14-4 on Tuesday, improving its record to 11-2.
The Rams will close the regular season with a road game against Centreville at 7:15 p.m. on Monday, May 11.