The Connection

The hype surrounding Monday night’s matchup between the Robinson and Centreville girls’ lacrosse teams built throughout the day with comments on social media.

Things got even more intense when focus shifted to the field.

In a battle for the top seed in the Conference 5 tournament, the Rams and Wildcats engaged in physical play, and combined for 45 goals and eight yellow cards. There was even a brief sideline dispute between head coaches.

Each team made a second-half run to take the lead. But in an environment Robinson captain Taylor Caskey described as “insane,” it was the Rams who best kept their cool and came out on top.

Playing with a three-player advantage thanks to six Centreville yellow cards, Robinson scored the final six goals and captured a 25-20 victory on May 11 at Robinson Secondary School.

The Rams finished the regular season with a 13-1 record, including 5-0 in the conference. Centreville suffered its first loss of the season (10-1, 4-1) and will be the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. Each team will receive a first-round bye and an automatic berth in the 6A North region tournament.

“It was intense,” said Caskey, a junior midfielder. “It was building up the whole day — back and forth on social media; everyone was getting so hyped for the game. We wanted this so bad. We haven’t beat Centreville [since 2011] and I think we were just looking for the redemption we were looking for for so long.”

Robinson led 17-10 at halftime but Centreville came surging back.

The Wildcats trailed 18-12 when an official issued Centreville standout Caroline Wakefield a yellow card — Centreville’s fourth of the night --- with 21:07 remaining. US Lacrosse rules state once a team receives its fourth yellow card of the game, the team will be a player short for the remainder of the contest and will lose another player for each subsequent card issued.

Despite being short-handed, Centreville scored eight of the next nine goals and took a 20-19 lead when Wakefield scored with 14:56 remaining.

Within the next six minutes, however, Centreville received two more yellow cards, putting the Wildcats in a 12-on-9 disadvantage. Robinson capitalized by scoring the final six goals and taking the game.

The Rams also scored four straight goals in the first half during a Centreville yellow card, extending their lead to 16-9.

Robinson head coach Liz Case said she told the Rams to “keep calm and just play” in regard to dealing with Centreville’s physical style.

“I wanted [us] to play a clean game,” Case said. “I’m very adamant about how they are at practice with checking and fouling. I call them out on it. They have to do push-ups. I feel that’s one thing that saved us in this game is we did keep our composure. We didn’t get too emotional in the sense that [we] started swinging and playing bad. It worked to our benefit because [the Wildcats] did it. Having so many people down, we were able to take the lead.”

While Case preached calmness, the Robinson head coach exhibited a moment frustration in the second half when she yelled at Centreville head coach Christina Griel, telling her not to coach her players while they’re in the penalty box.

“Just play by the rules,” Case said after the game. “It is what it is. If she saw me doing it, I’m sure she would call me out, too. [Out of] respect, I’m going to call her out on it basing it on the fact that she knows the rules. … We had yellow cards too, but I’m not over there coaching them.”

Officials warned both teams.

“I don’t have a comment for that,” Griel said. “I don’t think she likes where I was standing, I guess.”

Griel said the Wildcats “might have three or four yellows on the whole year” prior to Monday’s game. She said the team can learn from the loss before entering the postseason.

“Clearly, some of my younger players didn’t quite know how to handle a game like this, but they’ll learn from it [and] they’ll be better next time,” she said. “… [Losing players to yellow cards is] a tough thing to battle back from. So for the score to be what it is and for us to be beating a team like that a man down, I’m proud of the effort that they put out and it didn’t go our way in terms of the fouls and they’ll be better for it next time.

“… Adversity is always a benefit and it’s a learning experience. It’s a whole new season from here on out.”

Robinson senior attack Izzy Obregon produced a hat trick in the game’s first four minutes, helping the Rams jump out to a 4-0 lead. She tallied six goals in the first half and finished with eight.

Obregon, who will play for the University of Maryland, said she wanted to play well against Centreville standouts Wakefield (University of North Carolina) and Reagan Newell (James Madison University).

“I did take it on myself to be a little more aggressive,” Obregon said. “It was more of a personal game because I’m best friends with Reagan … so there was some rivalry there.”

Caskey and sophomore attacker Katie Checkosky each scored four goals for Robinson. Senior midfielder and team captain Mackenzie Schuler finished with three goals, and senior attack Sasha Towne, junior attack Kaitlin Luccarelli and sophomore midfielder Elli Kluegel each had two.

Newell led Centreville with eight goals and Wakefield totaled six. Paige Richbourg finished with three goals, Emily Marciano had two and Elizabeth Murphy had one.

“Reagan and Caroline are two amazing players,” Caskey said. “We’ve been trying to guard them forever. When we all get into it, it gets a little tough to keep our emotions together. I would say there was a good amount of roughness out there tonight because people just wanted this win more than anything.

“To us, this was the game that meant it all.”