It was a beautiful Thursday evening in Falls Church as the Meridian High boys’ lacrosse team hosted Culpeper County for their postseason opener, and it would prove to be a beautiful result for the Mustangs. Rex Crespin opened the scoring only 36 seconds in and Gordon Davig added another about a minute later, and though the visitors would get one back to make it 2-1, they would quickly fall out of the game. It was 9-1 by midway through the second quarter and 11-2 at halftime, and when Culpeper County scored the first goal after the break, it would prove to be their last until the waning minutes, well after the game was by all intents and purposes complete as Meridian won by a final score of 16-4.
George Papadopolous and Gordon Davig dominated the score sheet for the Mustangs, with the former potting six goals and the latter finding the back of the net on five occasions. Rex Crespin and Nate Kusic both scored twice, and the final tally was earned by Gregory Zike.
The following day, it was the girls’ turn to rout their opponent to the tune of a 28-3 advantage over visiting Liberty, but there was no collapse here a la Super Bowl LI. Four goals were scored by the Mustangs in the game’s first two minutes and six before the opponents got on the board, and Meridian’s first seven goals all came from different players. Thirteen different Mustangs found the back of the net in total in a game that was 17-2 by halftime, and the rest was merely a formality with many of the team’s backups finding themselves getting some more run than usual. Sydney Longer led the team with five goals and Tillie Gale scored four times, with Lila Deering and Caroline Carmody registering hat tricks with three apiece. Annie Moore, Julie Capozzi, and Bella Paradiso tallied twice while six others found the back of the net once, many of which came late in the game.
Both teams will continue their quest through the regional playoffs next Monday, however, only the girls will have their game at home while the boys visit rival Brentsville, the same Brentsville that just recently defeated them 9-7.
