Lacrosse: New Rivalry: Loudoun Valley and Woodgrove Split First Ever Lacrosse Meeting Before Large Crowd with Vikings Girls Winning, 18-12, and Wolverine Boys Coming Back for, 8-7, OT Thriller

Woodgrove's Chad Niergarth Nets the Game Winner in OT at Loudoun Valley Friday


By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor

Purcellville (Apr. 30, 2011) – One of the largest lacrosse crowds ever in Loudoun turned out Friday night to witness the first ever meeting between new neighborhood rivals, first-year Woodgrove and nearly 50-year-old Loudoun Valley, and in the end fans from both sides had something to smile about.

Host Loudoun Valley honored their senior girls before the start of the non-district doubleheader and fittingly all but one of the Viking goals came from seniors as they defeated the Wolverines, 18-12. The Vikes – with seniors Andrea Mustacchio (5 goals, 3 assists), Caitlin Khosla (5 goals) and Sarah Furr (3 goals, 1 assist) all having big nights – jumped out to a 17-5 lead before emptying the bench.

The boys game set the bar high for future meetings in the series in terms of excitement as Woodgrove erased a 2-goal deficit in the fourth quarter behind the play of junior Chad Niergarth (5 goals) who tied the game and then put the Wolverines ahead with 2:23 to play. Valley senior Will Taylor (3 goals, 1 assist) had the home stands rocking when he tied the game back, 7-7, with 1:48 left but it was Niergarth’s night to be the hero as he netted the game-winner in overtime to touch off a wild Wolverine celebration.


“Crazy!,” is how Niergarth described his game-winner and being mobbed after. “When we were down, coach said to dig deep and play from your heart.”

The Woodgrove coach with that advice – Jeff Lewandowski – was the Vikings coach before moving to the new school to start the Wolverine program. He said prior to the contest that he would rather not have faced his former players and that the OT winner left him with mixed emotions.

“I’m proud of my team but I feel bad for the Loudoun Valley seniors. They played a good game. Coming back here and playing tonight was not an easy thing to do,” said Lewandowski. “I have nothing in love in my heart for Loudoun Valley. “

Those same mixed emotions were evident in the first game as well as not only were the Wolverines playing against their former teammates but the Woodgrove coaching staff came from Valley as well with head coach Bob Fuller a former Viking assistant and his assistant Renee Albro, the daughter of current Viking head coach Tracey Albro.

“They are all friends and it was their Senior Night but we really wanted to beat them,” said Fuller’s daughter, Ellen Fuller, a Wolverine junior who, along with junior Ashlyn Dacey, had five goals each.

The Woodgrove girls fell to 7-4 on the season but are 7-0 in the Dulles District and face Freedom Thursday in a showdown that should decided the regular-season title. The Wolverines non-district defeats have come against top-notch programs: Oakton, Robinson, Stone Bridge and Valley.

“We chose those schools because we wanted to the girls an idea of where they need to be,” said Wolverines coach Bob Fuller.

Valley went ahead 4-1 but Woodgrove tied it up, 4-4, with 13:06 left in the first half. For the next five minutes neither team could score but then Furr scored off an assist from Mustacchio and that seem to light a fire under the Vikings as they reeled off five more goals – including three in a head-spinning 31-second span.

Mustacchio said the message to her team prior to their run was simply to “focus”. The emotions of Senior Night were tough for some of the players.

“It was said and exciting, realizing that this is our last year here,” said Mustacchio.

Albro said here senior-laden group, with 13 on the roster, has the advantage of having played together for a long time. She said her team, with a 10-1 record, had to “stay focused and play together as a team” if they wanted to make another state tournament playoff run.

Fuller saw no reason why his former team couldn’t challenge again: “They should be a state contender. They have the stick skills, the speed, the goalie.”

While there were smiles and hugs after the girls game, the boys game was bit more contentious as there were some big hits early on and the fouls and flags were flying most of the night. The Vikings fans and sideline weren’t very pleased that the Wolverines three goals in the fourth quarter all came on man-advantages including a 2-man up to tie it.

Valley first-year coach Logan Cutshall wouldn’t comment on the officiating but he did say that the contest wasn’t indicative of how the Vikes (8-2) had been playing this season, with their only loss before Friday to Broad Run in the season opener.

“We just didn’t play well tonight. We couldn’t get the ball on offense,” said Cutshall, a former player at Valley.

Valley opened the boys game with two goals by junior Will Geise but Woodgrove finished the quarter on a 3-goal run with Niergarth striking twice and junior Al Black scoring.

The next two quarters were all Vikes as they blanked the Wolverines 3-0 in the second and the third was played to a near standstill with each side netting one goal.

Woodgrove (7-5) came to life in the fourth with sophomore Kellen McCarthy scoring off an assist from junior Denis Radcliffe. That goal came with 8:43 left and a minute later, on a two man up advantage after the Vikes were flagged twice in a matter of seconds, Niergarth tied it up off an assist from freshman Conner Loving.

Woodgrove goalie, junior Cody Cunningham, made a super save with 3:47 left but on the Valley defensive end, Viking goalie Matt Lower answered with back-to-back beautiful saves to keep it tied.

With 2:23 left, niergarth put the Wolverine fans and students on their feet with a go-ahead goal but the large Valley crowd went crazy 35 seconds later as Taylor tied it.

In overtime, just before Woodgrove won the contest, Valley had a tantalizingly close shot on their end with the ball ending up in the side netting instead of the goal and the next trip down, Niergarth received the ball from about six yards out and whipped a shot in to set off a celebration of a win that could be a stepping-stone to bigger things.

“It’s a nice win. We are young, we are learning. We got some lucky bounces tonight,” said Lewandowski.