Lee leads the Panthers with five goals in five games, and her presence has allowed Exley, Potomac’s leading scorer last season, to contribute in different ways. Exley has five assists in addition to her three goals.
“[Lee is] a great goal scorer, so we’ve been able to capitalize on a lot more chances this year,” said Exley, a Yale commit. “We’ve had such good movement and connection, it kind of takes the pressure off me to score a lot of goals.”
Potomac School (3-0-2) drew, 1-1, against two of the top private schools in the area — No. 1 St. John’s and No. 3 Good Counsel — to start the season before its offense began to click last week. The Panthers won three games in four days by a combined score of 13-1.
Now, the reigning Independent School League AA tournament champions have their sights set on more than a tournament title.
“With the depth of the team that we have this year, I feel like we have a greater chance than ever before at the regular season title,” Exley said.
William Strong had been looking forward to the Oatlands Invitational and even bought a new pair of bright yellow spikes for the meet. By the time Saturday’s race was over, that highlighter yellow had turned into a crusty brown thanks to the muddy terrain.
Racing Oatlands Historic House and Gardens in Leesburg, Strong and fellow junior Sebi Hume helped St. Albans to a second-place finish. Hume finished seventh in 16 minutes 18 seconds; Strong placed 10th in 16:36.
Oatlands can be a tough course race and, after heavy rain over the weekend from Tropical Storm Ophelia, conditions were sloppy.
“Something we had to think about was running on the outside of the course to not be in the mud. … So it was a little different than a normal race,” Hume said.
Strong and Hume discussed strategies before the run, and they are close friends off the course. Over the past summer, they traveled to Oregon together, and they also started a YouTube channel, Run DMV, that posts videos with highlights and insights into their personalities.
“William was talking about doing a title [called] ‘Running a cross-country meet in a monsoon,’ ” Hume said.
“There are definitely some big clickbait opportunities with the weather,” Strong added.
Some high school volleyball teams find joy despite their record — others, because of it. Chantilly believes it could fall in that first group. But, at 7-1 and climbing, the Chargers can’t truly know for sure.
“We know how to have fun,” junior Mimi Mambu said. “But we’re not just goofing around. We’re having fun when we’re learning.”
Perhaps that delight starts with Mambu, an upbeat personality off the court with a reputation as Northern Virginia’s most explosive outside hitter. Or that a handful of players, including juniors Gabby Nelson and Nola Murphy and freshman Caycee Chhum, have exceeded expectations.
Mambu, though, attributes it to Coach Danny Molina, who has one of the more effervescent personalities in the area. Molina said he brought that spirit from his upbringing in Puerto Rico.
“When I moved here back in 2009, it was a shock. There we coached with emotions; here it was more easygoing,” Molina said, laughing. “That does make me either a little bit unpopular or very popular. But here in Chantilly, our fans are engaged with us. … Sometimes they ask for pictures with me.”
“He’s gotten a red card before, and no one was mad — we were all just laughing about it,” Mambu said. “That’s just a Danny type of thing. … It’s never on us. He’s never mad at us.”
Part of the players’ joy also comes in an optimistic future. They aren’t quiet about that, either.
“Every single time we go into that team room, Danny’s like, ‘I want a state chip, and I know you guys do, too,’ ” Mambu said. “Then we just start yelling: ‘I want it! Do you want it?’ ”
It took until the late stages of last season for Whitman to begin playing its best. One objective for the team this year was to reach its potential earlier.
Thursday’s game against No. 5 Churchill proved the Vikings are doing just that and can make a case they’re the top team in Montgomery County. With the score tied in double overtime, junior Maya Raphael handled an assist from freshman Devon Pratt and slotted home a goal to hand the Bulldogs their first loss, 2-1.
“It was a great win,” Whitman Coach Krishna Jaitly said. “… We believed in them from the beginning of the season, but these games really solidify the potential that this team has.
Whitman (6-0) lost just two games last season: to Churchill in the regular season and to Broadneck in the Maryland 4A semifinals. This year, the Vikings have already avenged that first loss, and they attribute their rise to off-field chemistry. Bonding through team meals, inside jokes and the team’s favorite song, “Diamonds” by Rihanna, their togetherness shows.
“I think we better understand how each other thinks and can better anticipate how our teammates are going to play,” said Raphael, a Columbia commit. “We’ve really improved our team chemistry on the field because of how we’ve become closer off the field.”
With a roster full of experienced players — including 13 seniors — Whitman is using its early success as a building block toward its final goals.
“It just showed us what we can do this season,” senior captain Catalina Sposato said. “It really opened us up to keeping up this level and the momentum we have.”
As the first day of last year’s Maryland state championship came to a close, the prospects were good for Crofton then-sophomore Owen Newberry, who had just shot an even-par 71 that put him in striking distance of first place.
But Newberry struggled to the finish on Day 2, posting a 5-over 76 as he watched Benjamin Siriboury of River Hill cruise to a 3-under 68, winning both the individual title and the team championship. Newberry settled for sixth place, as did Crofton as a team.
“The second day, I definitely didn’t play my best,” Newberry said. “The state championship is always a goal of mine. This year, I’m going to try to win it.”
While Newberry’s season has had “some bad days and some decent days,” the junior is keeping his focus on his team’s success.
Coach Collin Snyder has been impressed with Newberry’s resolve to come back stronger this season as well as his willingness to put team success above his own.
“He’s matured a lot as a junior, really starting to encourage his teammates to practice more and ramp up their own play,” Snyder said. “Outside of his own goal to be a state champion, he wants to get our team to that state championship as well.”
This year’s state championships are nearly a month away — they’re scheduled for Oct. 23-25 — but when asked how it would feel to reach his ultimate goal, Newberry responded with “Unbelievable.”
“I know I can do it,” he said. “I just have to go out there and prove it.”
From the start of this season, Quince Orchard Coach Bruno Tejo told his team about the challenge that awaited in the first few weeks.
“Right when we started tryouts, I told the boys we were going to have a tough schedule this year and it was going to jump-start with those schools,” Tejo said. “It gave us every reason to approach this season one game at a time and control what we can control.”
“Those schools” were Whitman and Churchill — two of the best, most consistent programs in Maryland. The Vikings and Bulldogs have a combined 18 state champions, and they would serve as two of Quince Orchard’s first three opponents.
For a Cougars team that returned a good amount of young talent, those early tests could give them an idea of this squad’s potential.
“A lot of the players understood what the expectation was, and that was to rise to another level,” Tejo said.
The Cougars hosted Churchill first, earning a 2-1 win on goals from junior midfielder Ron Abarjel and junior forward Iker Garzon. Garzon also provided the difference a few days later as the Cougars got a 1-0 overtime road win against Whitman.
“Sometimes it takes a team a little while to get into the rhythm of a new season,” Tejo said. “But from the start, these guys have understood what the goals are and gotten after it.”