New Eagles: Northeast Girls Upend Chesapeake, 16-11

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March 29 was a big day for the Northeast girls lacrosse program.

The Eagles ushered in a new era of lacrosse at the school with a 16-11 win over visiting archrival Chesapeake, earning the program’s first win over the Cougars since April 2015 and second all-time.

Alyssa Borgert led Northeast with 5 goals, while Madison Hobbs had 4 goals, Emma Borgert scored 3 and Sydney Makarovich and Morgan James added 2 goals each. Senior goalie Sydney Wingate made 13 saves and repeatedly started fast breaks with clears, while sophomore midfielder Abigail Zimmerman controlled 9 draws and Hobbs controlled another 5 to help Northeast win the possession battle.

The victory was the first career win for new head coach Kim Kolarick, who said her team’s game-ready mentality was the difference in Northeast being able to take a huge leap forward by earning a win over their historically superior rival.

“I think for us just from the get-go, the girls were ready to play and ready to play hard,” said Kolarick. “That first draw went up, and we fought for every draw, every ground ball, every 50-50 ball, so that was exciting to see, especially against a rival. Chesapeake is such a difficult game going in because it is such a battle. From football to all the sports, that’s the team to beat. We knew how they played, so we worked on our attack and defense because we knew how their defense and attack played. So a lot of X’s and O’s, but we knew we had to fight from the very beginning.”

Having endured losses to Annapolis and Severna Park and a close loss to Old Mill, Northeast used its win over Chesapeake as a springboard for continued success, putting together a win streak. The Eagles earned their second win of the season on April 2, traveling to Columbia and taking it to the Hammond High School Golden Bears in a dominant 19-3 win. Delaney Piechowiak snagged 6 draw controls, with Zimmerman controlling 5 and Hobbs 4. Northeast spread out its scoring among 10 different players as Hailey Helmick (3 goals), James (3), Hobbs (2), Piechowiak (2), Makarovich (2), Alyssa Borgert (2), Emma Hurman (2), Emma Borgert (1), Zimmerman (1) and Gabby Starlings (1) all scored. Wingate and Caroline Gilliard split time in goal for Northeast.

On April 5, senior captain James led the Eagles with 5 goals in a 17-6 win over Glen Burnie. Piechowiak added 3 goals, while Helmick, Sydney Makarovich and Alyssa Borgert scored 2 goals each. Emma Borgert, Zimmerman and Shelby Frasure added 1 goal each, and Madison Gregg added a goal and 5 assists. Gilliard, a freshman, made 5 saves. On April 9, Alyssa Borgert (4 goals), Sydney Makarovich (3 goals), Hobbs (2 goals), Emma Borgert, Helmick, James, Piechowiak, Zimmerman and Gabby Starlings all scored in a 15-4 win over Wilde Lake.

Wingate and defensive players Maddie Shaner, Caroline Makarovich, Julia Rafiq and Kiersten Lamke have anchored the defense throughout Northeast’s successful spurt.

Now with momentum before the season’s midway point, the win over Chesapeake stands alone as a feather-in-the-cap win and an all-time memory. With the program’s only other win over Chesapeake coming in 2015, none of the current seniors or underclassmen had ever experienced a lacrosse victory over the Cougars.

“It was a big team win, and we all played together,” said Wingate. “It was great overall. I played well, the defense played well, all around, attack, we all did our jobs.”

Alyssa Borgert said the win came from a feeling of on-field cohesion.

“It was just exhilarating because we were just like, ‘Oh wow, we just beat Chesapeake as a team,’” Borgert, a junior, said. “It was just so much fun just being on the field with everyone. The bench was great. Everyone on the field was playing together and it was fun to see everyone work together.”

Zimmerman, just a sophomore, said she wasn’t immune to the pressure, but she focused on excelling for her teammates.

“I was just doing it like it was my last game, just fighting my best,” Zimmerman said. “I have not beaten Chesapeake since I’ve been in high school. It was a big thing. We just played as a family, and I thought that was the best thing. We all communicated and fought for each other. We just worked together, and that was the most important thing.”

Kolarick said she sparked her team with a specific mental tactic.

“We went into the game with each girl coming up with their one word,” Kolarick said. “So, goal-setting, but on a level where each girl had one focus, one mentality for the game. We actually wrote our words on pieces of black tape with gold writing and put them on their sticks. So every time they go for a ground ball or a draw, they would see their one word. Finish a shot, see their ball in the back of the net, they see their word. So that was our mentality. Coach [French] Reese’s word was ‘commitment.’ My word was ‘positive.’”

The players went in assertive directions with their chosen words.

“I wrote ‘Next One,’” said Wingate. “So if a ball goes in, get the next one.”

“‘No fear,’” said Zimmerman. “Can’t have fear in the draw circle, or else you’re going to lose it.”

Said Borgert, “‘100%,’ because you’ve always got to go all-out, and at least if you know you’re doing that, you feel a lot better about it.”

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