Both the boys’ and girls’ lacrosse teams at Meridian High School saw their 2024 postseason begin on Monday evening with home games for their respective Regional Quarterfinal matchups, with the boys facing Fauquier while the girls played Brentsville. The boys were first to take the field at 5:30, followed by the girls at 7:30, and the two games played out in very different ways.

The boys had the upper hand early, scoring four times in the first quarter with three of those goals coming from Dean Zike after Carter Williams had opened things up. They led 4-0 following a frame, and then after Fauquier got a couple back in the second, it was Jack Moore and Zike again finding the back of the net to put the Mustangs up 6-2 at halftime. But the visitors made their charge after the intermission, scoring the next four to tie the contest at six apiece, and with less than a minute left in the quarter, it was Zike for a fifth time coming to the rescue. He ended up tallying six goals in total while Colin Williams earned two very important scores in the fourth quarter, his second giving Meridian a 10-7 lead with two minutes remaining. Fauquier took advantage of a Mustang penalty to cut the deficit to one in the final seconds, but couldn’t get the tying marker, and the boys escaped with a hard-fought 10-9 victory.

Thankfully for all the Meridian supporters in attendance who stuck around, the girls’ game was far less stressful. They found the back of the net twice in the first two minutes, courtesy of C.C. Carmody and Tilly Gale, and that was only the calm before the storm, as an avalanche of no fewer than eight tallies were scored within a three-minute span between the 8:20 and 5:45 marks of the first quarter, three of those courtesy of Ally Campbell. The Mustangs’ 10-0 lead barely midway through the opening frame meant the game went to a running clock the rest of the way, and Meridian’s starters only played sparingly after going ahead 14-0 lead into halftime. Campbell led the team with five goals on the night while Gale had four, and Bella Brooks scored all three of hers after halftime to help the Mustangs dominate to the tune of 19-1.

Both teams were able to earn themselves a second home game with their efforts, and will both be matched up against the same opponent from Monticello when they compete in the Regional Semifinals on Thursday afternoon.