The going should be tough again for girls in 2A-1A tournament

2A-1A West Region girls lacrosse preview

One of those teams is the Knights (10-2), which steamrolled Poolesville 19-8 in Poolesville to win the regional title a year ago. Century has come back strong again this season, replacing Jenny Steadman, who graduated after last season, with junior Katie Schwartmann. She tied a school record earlier this season, by scoring nine goals in a win over South Carroll.

‘‘I am always pleased with her performance,” Century coach Rose Pentz said to the Carroll County Times. ‘‘But I’m also pleased with what she does beyond the goals. She does a lot of the ‘dirty work’ that doesn’t get a lot of attention but are really important in the game.”

Yet, Liberty (12-1) showed that it was also capable of dirty work earlier this week, when it knocked off the Knights, 16-10, handing them their first home loss in school history. That may have wrapped up the top spot in the region for the Lions, meaning that if Poolesville, which lost to B-CC last week for their first regular season loss in almost two years, wants to make it to the state tournament, it may have to hit the road to do it.

Yet the Falcons may be up for the challenge. This season has been a surprise, as they lost both their leading scorers from a year ago, Meghan Rose and Jacqueline Orona, to graduation. While both are now playing Division I collegiate lacrosse — Orona is at Ohio State while Rose is at Vanderbilt — senior attacker Cori Rosenberg has filled their shoes, leading the team in scoring and helping a young cast of players emerge. Senior Grace Jackson has anchored the defense, and goalie Erika Gonzalez has been solid in net.

‘‘Cori has taken on a leadership role that has surpassed my expectations and the rest of the girls are following,” Poolesville coach May Shlash said. ‘‘I think I keep making the mistake of underestimating them, but they keep doing what they need to be doing to be successful, and its working. We’re focusing on the now, but the future is definitely bright.”

The future is also bright for Rockville (5-6), which took a step back from a 10-2 record a year ago, but did better than expected after losing Anna Schmidt, a two-time All-Gazette second team selection who scored 150 goals in two seasons, to graduation. Jancewicz has built a team based on fundamentals, and while seniors Emily Owen (36 goals) and Danielle Duplain (23 goals, 6 assists) have led the scoring charge, underclassmen like junior defender Leann Taylor, have made significant strides.

‘‘We’re looking forward to the challenge,” Jancewicz said. ‘‘It is going to be a tough for us, but I think we can learn something from the experience.”

2a-1a west region

Favorites: Century (10-2), Liberty (12-1)

Contenders: Poolesville (10-1)

Players to watch: Cori Rosenberg (Poolesville, Sr., A), Grace Jackson (Poolesville, Sr., D), Erika Gonzalez (Sr., GK), Katie Schwartzmann (Century, Jr., A), Kaitlin Pentz (Century, Soph., GK), Meaghan Conlan (Liberty, Sr., D), Shelby Nemecek (Liberty, Sr., A), Emily Owen (Rockville, Sr., A), Mary Gorman (Rockville, Sr., D), Danielle Duplain (Rockville, Sr., M)