A 10-0 run to close the first half and open the second half by Northern Region champion James Madison proved too much to overcome for Loudoun Valley in the VHSL State girls lacrosse quarterfinals June 3.

The Vikings - making their fourth consecutive state tournament appearance - saw their season conclude with a 19-7 loss to the Warhawks Friday at George Marshall High School in Falls Church.

-Here is a full game report by Tracy Beglau:

Loudoun Valley traveled to George C. Marshall High School in Falls Church to play the James Madison Warhawks in a state tournament quarterfinals game. The winner of this game would advance to the state tournament semifinals June 7 at Westfield High School in Chantilly. 

The Vikings would get off to a good start as senior Andrea Mustacchio would score the game’s first goal at the 23:58 mark giving the Vikings a 1-0 lead. The Warhawks’ freshman Katie Kerrigan would tie the score at 1-1 with a nice shot with 21:00 left in the first half.

Valley would have a couple of opportunities to regain the lead with free shots but were unable to score. This seemed to turn the momentum in Madison’s favor as they would score four consecutive goals from four different players in a two-and-a-half minute period, taking a 5-1 lead at the 13:10 mark. 

Valley’s Mustacchio would respond with her second goal of the game at the 12:10 mark to cut the deficit to 5-2. However, Madison would show how potent their offensive attack was as junior Megan Bisson scored just 15 seconds later, building the Warhawks’ lead to 6-2. 

The Vikings would respond with two consecutive goals, one each from senior Caitlin Khosla and freshman Corley Simons, to cut the deficit to 6-4 with 4:05 left in the first half. Once again though, Madison flexed its offensive muscles and scored four goals in the last three minutes of the first half to take a 10-4 lead at halftime. 

Even though Valley held a slight edge in draws won, 8-7, Madison controlled the ground balls and played a tighter defense as they looked a step faster than Valley. Valley’s senior goalkeeper, Kelsey Luck, faced 17 shots, saving four of them.  Six different players scored for the Warhawks in the first half, the mark of a balanced attack. Madison’s sophomore goalkeeper, Taylor Rivera-Silva, faced 11 shots, making five saves. 

The second half saw the first two minutes scoreless before Madison got their potent offense back in gear. The Warhawks would score six consecutive goals in a five-plus minutes to take a 16-4 lead with 17:20 left in the game. Four different players scored for the Warhawks during that span.

Valley’s senior Kayla Ebrahimnejad would score off a nice assist from fellow senior Sarah Furr to make the score 16-5 with 12:45 left in the game. Once again, Madison would respond right back with two consecutive goals to build the lead to 18-5 with 8:50 left in the game. Valley’s sophomore Cortney Inman would score off a nice assist from Simons to make the score 18-6 with 5:10 left in the game. 

Both teams would score one more goal each in the final two minutes to make the final score 19-7 in favor of Madison. Senior Caitlin McGinn would get the final goal of the game for the Vikings. The second half saw the Warhawks dominate the draws won, 9-4. As in the first half, the Warhawks controlled the ground balls won as well. These two statistics, plus a tight defense, is why Madison outshot Valley 17-5 in the second half alone. 

For the game, Madison outshot Valley by a margin of 34-16.  Valley’s two goalkeepers, Luck and junior Maggie Beglau, split playing time in the second half. Luck faced eight shots, saving two while Beglau face nine shots, saving four. Madison’s starting goalkeeper, Rivera-Silva, faced only three shots in the second half before she gave way to senior Lindsey Beeman, who saved one of the two shots she faced.

The loss drops Valley’s overall record to 16-4. Valley was led in scoring by Mustacchio with two goals. Madison was led in scoring by K. Kerrigan with five goals and C. Frederick with three goals. As a team, Loudoun Valley scored seven goals on 11 shots while James Madison scored 19 goals on 34 shots.

Although the seniors did not win a state championship during their varsity playing days at Valley, they did set a precedent by reaching the state tournament every year they were on the varsity team. Congratulations to all the Valley seniors for a career well done.