On Monday, March 21, 2016, the Bel Air Girls’ Lacrosse Team played in their first game of the season against John Carroll on the Patriot’s new turf fields. The Bobcats came up short, losing 9-10 in overtime.

Senior Captain Bekah Riley led the team scoring 5 goals, along with 3 goals from Junior Anna Farley and 1 from Senior Emily McQuay. Senior Goalie Sydney Matthews came up with 12 saves.

The Bobcats came out hard in the first half, taking a 5-2 lead on the Patriots. After half time, John Carroll scored 7 straight goals, taking a 9-5 lead on the Bobcats. Farley scored, breaking John Carroll’s scoring run.

With 1:33 left in the game, Bel Air was down 9-6. Riley scored two goals, making the score 9-8 with John Carroll still in the lead. With less than a minute left, John Carroll won the draw and ran down the field with the ball. The Bel Air defense pressured hard and caused a turn over. With just seconds left, the ball was passed to Sophomore Julia Henry, who launched it to Riley near the goal. Riley grabbed the ball one handed and scored with just 0:04 to spare. The score was then tied 9-9.

With the normal regulation period complete, the game had to go to overtime. Overtime was a 3-minute period of sudden death. The first team to score would win.

John Carroll won the draw at the start of overtime. Bel Air defense pressured hard and caused a turn over. The Bobcats transitioned the ball down field and made attempts to take the ball to goal. Riley had the ball and drove, but the whistle was blown. The referee called a charge on Riley. This means that the John Carroll defender was given the ball. The Patriots ran the ball down the field. On their way down, the referee gave the Bobcats a yellow card due to a seemingly illegal check. This means the Bobcats would be man down for the remainder of overtime. The man-down Bel Air defense pressured hard, however John Carroll was able to sneak a goal in, making the score 10-9 and winning the game.

Following the game, Coach Barry told the team that they played a hard fought game and that the players should not be disappointed with the outcome.

The Bobcats will have their first home game on Wednesday, March 30, 2016 at 6:45 p.m. against Howard. It should be a very intense game, so be sure to come out and support your Bobcats!