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Calverton passes test
First quarter leads to rout of Va. champs
Friday, March 12, 2010
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by MICHAEL REID
Calverton's David Goodwin, left, battles with Highland's Josh Nichols for control of the ball.
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The Cougars (1-0) jumped out to a big first quarter lead and went on to thump the visiting Hawks, 16-10, Wednesday at Veteran's Field.
"I would give us a solid B-plus," Montes said. "When you win, you always want to give yourself an A, but we have a lot of room to improve. This team has 16-plus underclassmen and one senior, so we still have a lot of work to do. They weren't at times playing my style of lacrosse and I have to fix that."
"It feels awesome, but we made a lot of mistakes and we could have played a lot better," said Calverton sophomore attack David Goodwin, who had three goals and two assists. "But getting this win is definitely a big start to a big season. I think we're going to surprise a lot of people like we surprised people today."
Teammate Nick Mazza scored a team-high five goals, all in the first quarter.
"It was Maryland vs. Virginia and we really needed this because we were nervous, very nervous. It's our first game, so we have a lot to work on, but we can do it."
The Hawks (0-1), who won the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association title in 2009, scored five unanswered goals over the third and fourth quarters, but it was a case of too little, too late.
"My expectation of scheduling Calverton was to schedule a good team that would give us a run for our money and that's what we got," Highland head coach Kevin Helmick said. "We could have just caved, but we fought back and I was pleased that for a young team they didn't give up."
It would have been hard for any team to battle back after how the Cougars erupted in the first quarter. Calverton opened the scoring when Goodwin scooped up a loose ball and converted just 41 seconds in.
"When he picked up that ball and took off on that long run and stung that low corner, that set the tone," Montes said. "I'm sure they were aware of David Goodwin, there's not a lot of people that aren't aware of who he is. If you're coming to play us and you don't know who David Goodwin is, it's going to be a long day."
The Cougars led 2-1, but Mazza scored the next three goals and all from the left side of the goal.
"David really opened the door because everyone was marking him," Mazza said. "I got lucky because the slide came a little late, so I did what I do best and took it to the goal."
"He comes around that left side and it's one-on-one. It's matchup superiority," Montes said. "They're a quality club and their coach runs a great team, [but] it's very difficult to find a matchup for how a kid like Mazza plays. He's been in our system since he was 14-years-old and I'm expecting big things from him this season."
Helmick added, "A strong left-handed attackman [Mazza] basically ran the score up on us. [And] I don't think we played against their speed very well and they have some good sticks. And in the first quarter we were playing their sticks and not the man."
Calverton led 8-2 after the first 12 minutes and took a commanding 13-5 advantage into halftime.
"[The key was] just coming out and believing, no … knowing we could win," Goodwin said. "When they got off the bus they were laughing and making jokes about us walking down the hill and that just put more fire in our eyes."
Highland outscored the Cougars 5-3 over the second half.
While Mazza, Goodwin and Will Lerch (4 goals) were taking care of the offensive side of things, goalie C.J. Meinhardt was taking care of things in the defensive zone.
The sophomore, who has taken over the No. 1 spot after the graduation of Peter Spaulding, made nine saves and earned the game ball.
"It feels great, I'm excited," Meinhardt said.
Meinhardt shined all day and even atoned for a small slip late in the game when he had a clearing pass intercepted but made the save on the ensuing shot.
"As soon as I made the pass I realized it was too low," he said, "and it was a great feeling once I stuffed him."
