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Last year, Walter Johnson carried a large developmental squad in an effort to replace the 11 seniors it lost after the 2005 season.

Thanks to these developmental programs, the advent of junior-varsity lacrosse might just accelerate a process of improvement that was already underway. Poolesville senior attacker Meghan Rose contended that lacrosse involvement in Montgomery County has ‘‘blown up,” and Quince Orchard coach Jenna Ries supported her assertion.

‘‘We are getting better as a county,” Ries said. ‘‘This might be the year that we get that miracle, and someone finally breaks through [into a state final].”

No county team has ever won a game in the state tournament.

A team that hopes to change that is Sherwood. For the past two years, the Warriors have made it to the 4A-3A West Region final, only to suffer disappointing losses both times. Is the third time the charm? Only time can tell.

‘‘We graduated 10 starters from last year,” Sherwood coach Mitch Rosenfeld said. ‘‘We are senior heavy, but there is not a lot of playing experience there, so I don’t know if we are as good as we have been.”

Two returning players that will make an impact though are seniors Aubrey Mirkin, who will bolster the midfield, and Sheelagh Bates, who will lead the attack. Junior defender Liz Kubis gained quite a bit of experience over the club season as well.

‘‘It will be interesting,” Rosenfeld said. ‘‘We’ll find out how good we are as the season goes.”

At Paint Branch first-year coach Katie Johnson will try to teach the skills she showed off as a member of the University of Delaware’s women’s lacrosse team. That may push the Panthers, led by seniors Christine Craddock, Morgan Mills and Emily Ullrich, to new heights.

‘‘I think we are ready to take the next step forward,” Johnson said. ‘‘The philosophy of the team is going to evolve over the course of the season, but we are going to focus on our transition and our hustle. I’m looking forward to getting out there.”

Another team that is looking forward to the new season is Rockville. Last year, the first-year under coaches Janis Maloney and Shella Burch, the Rams won 11 games, and made it so the regional semifinals. This year, they want to go even farther.

‘‘For the first time, the girls did some off season work,” Maloney said. ‘‘It really showed during our early scrimmages.”

In fact, Rockville did not lose anyone to graduation and return seniors Anna Schmidt, who led the team in scoring, and her fellow attacker and classmate Megan Johnsey. Senior Mel Turner will man the midfield, and junior Mary Gorman will head up the defense.

‘‘They have embraced a new persona,” Maloney said. ‘‘They are tired of being viewed as the team that always gets beaten. They are glad that they aren’t under the radar anymore.”

Springbrook, which suffered a close and disappointing loss to B-CC in the quarterfinals of the 4A-3A West Region playoffs, will return its leading scorer in Lauren Kessler. She will be a beacon of stability that graduated several seniors last season, but returns a large junior class looking for experience. First-year coach Emily Benson will take over for the departed Koula Strosnider.

For Magruder, however, there is little change at the top. Katie Hilton took over the program last year, and helped develop a talented group that includes junior attacker Kiki Saeckett and senior midfielder Colleen Allbrecht. Last year, Hilton termed her team a ‘‘work in progress.” This year, the Colonels might be ready to pull together during the season to make a run into the playoffs.

At Blake, first-year coach Christine Denny walks into an enviable situation. Not only are the Bengals the 4A-3A West Region champions, they return three important cogs from that team in midfielders Molly Wannen and Sammy Allen and goalie Kelly Arguero. In addition, Allen and Wannen gained some more experience winning, helping Blake’s girls basketball team to the Class 4A state final last week.

‘‘I expect that all of our seniors will be leaders this season,” Denny said. ‘‘We are continually trying to build our teamwork to make us a cohesive unit on the field.”

In addition, junior Ella Branson will round out the attack, and 14 freshman and sophomores wait in the wings to continue the Bengals recent upward trend.

‘‘They have all expressed that they hope that growth in their individual skill will make us a better team this year,” Denny said.

Einstein returns several players to a team that won a playoff game last year. In that group is senior Grace Reinhalter, who scored over 30 goals as a junior, and heads up a team that relies on speed.

‘‘We have improved our passing game, and we can run an offense into some different formations,” coach Suzanne Murray said. ‘‘I think our team is more athletic than last year, as well as faster, and hopefully that will produce more goals.”

If the Titans can get contributions on the defensive end from senior Emma Skallerup and freshman goalie Myriam Stevens, they may also get over the .500 hump for the first time in three seasons.

At Wheaton, Kim Pabst hopes that her team, with a year of experience under its belt, might be ready to shed the losing seasons it has recorded of late. Though the Knights went 4-9 last year, and lost in the first round of the playoffs, for the first time in a few seasons, they are not starting from scratch at the beginning of a new year. According to Pabst, about half of the roster saw significant playing time last season.

‘‘This year we are trying to win close games, and some key matches,” Pabst said. ‘‘We [want] to increase our knowledge of the game.”

Though knowledge was lost with the graduation of leading scorers Melody Gannon and Liza Del Valle, Wheaton does return seniors Lilly Trujillo, Cindy Villarreal, and Emily Zea. In addition, freshman Tran Ta and Nathalie Meza are players to watch.

Rounding out the public schools are Kennedy, Blair and Northwood. For the first two on that list, last season was a struggle, as Blair won just once, and Kennedy did not win at all. Northwood will hope to do better in its first season of varsity lacrosse. First-year coach Penn Ketchum will inherit a squad of freshman, sophomores and juniors that played against developmental teams last year.

In the private-school realm, Holy Cross will once again take on Good Counsel, the reigning king of the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. The Tartans are led by senior attacker Kristin Coleman, and have a fleet of good youngsters, like sophomore center Haley Katzenberger, for first-year coach Susan Decker to mold.

‘‘We are starting to see that the girls are getting the experience,” Decker said. ‘‘They are disciplined and they have been working hard. We are excited and ready to hit the ground running.”

The Falcons romped in the WCAC tournament, defeating Ireton 16-6 in the final for its 20th win of the season and their third consecutive title. In fact, over the last two years, Good Counsel has won 36 games against just six losses, and enjoyed a national ranking in the top 50 by laxpower.com. After sending four players off to NCAA Division I programs last year, the Falcons return to the field this year with five players already committed to colleges: attacker Ashley Stodter (UMBC), Lauren Fenlon (Notre Dame), Eileen Ghent (Rutgers), Karly O’Brien (Robert Morris) and Lizzie Kusbit (Colgate). They will be the odds-on favorite to raise a fourth straight WCAC trophy at the end of this season. The reason for that is pretty simple.

‘‘We are producing players that are solid academically and athletically,” Good Counsel coach Mike Haight said. ‘‘And, they are good kids.”

Fast facts

Blair Blazers

Head coach: Mike Horne, 9th year

Last year’s record: 1-11

League affiliation: Montgomery County 4A East Division

Blake Bengals

Head coach: Christine Denny, 1st year

Last year’s record: 12-3, 4A-3A West Region champions

League affiliation: Montgomery County 4A East Division

Players to watch: Sammy Allen (Sr., M) Molly Wannen (Sr., M) Kelly Arguero (Sr., G)

Einstein Titans

Head coach: Suzanne Murray, 1st year

Last year’s record: 6-8

League affiliation: Montgomery County 3A⁄2A⁄1A Division

Players to watch: Grace Reinhalter (Sr., M), Cory Hawkins (Sr., A), Madelyn Giblin (Sr., M)

Good Counsel Falcons

Head coach: Mike Haight, 6th year

Last year’s record: 20-3-1, WCAC champions

League affiliation: Washington Catholic Athletic Conference

Players to watch: Ashley Stodter (Sr., A), Lauren Fenlon (Sr., D), Lizzie Kusbit (Sr., M), Karly O’Brien (Sr., M), Eileen Ghent (Sr., D)

Holy Cross Tartans

Head coach: Susan Decker, 1st year

Last year’s record: 4-11

League affiliation: Washington Catholic Athletic Conference

Players to watch: Kristen Coleman (Sr., A⁄M), Haley Katzenberger (Soph., C), Katie Delaney (Jr., A), Grace Dinn (Jr., D)

Kennedy Cavaliers

Head coach: Tami Goldstein, 1st year

Last year’s record: 0-12

League affiliation: Montgomery County 3A⁄2A⁄1A Division

Paint Branch Panthers

Head coach: Katie Johnson, 1st year

Last year’s record:4-9

League affiliation: Montgomery County 3A⁄2A⁄1A Division

Players to watch: Christine Craddock (Sr., M), Emily Ulrich (Sr., C), Morgan Mills (Sr., M)

Sherwood Warriors

Head coach: Mitch Rosenfeld, 5th year

Last year’s record: 13-2

League affiliation: Montgomery County 4A East Division

Players to watch: Aubrey Mirkin (Sr., D), Sheelagh Bates (Sr., A), Liz Kubis (Jr., A)

Springbrook Blue Devils

Head coach: Emily Benson, 1st year

Last year’s record: 7-5

League affiliation: Montgomery County 4A East Division

Players to watch: Lauren Kessler (Sr., A), Kate Flaming

Wheaton Knights

Head coach: Kim Pabst, 2nd year

Last year’s record: 4-9

League affiliation: Montgomery County 3A⁄2A⁄1A Division

Players to watch: Lily Trujillo (Sr., M), Cindy Villareal (Sr., M), Emily Zea (Sr., A)