Churchill lacrosse’s Caraballo scores 5 goals, Bulldogs defeats Cougars
POTOMAC – The defending state champion Winston Churchill High School boys lacrosse team cruised through its competition in the 2023 season, winning its first seven games.
The Bulldogs hosted Quince Orchard — a team with only one loss — and despite a competitive affair, Churchill did enough for the 16-11 victory Monday night to improve to 8-0.
“We’re happy where we’re at so far,” said Bulldogs head coach Jeff Fritz. “We’ve been fortunate enough to get a couple of good victories here. Just trying to string them together and get better each day.”
Alex Caraballo led the way for the Bulldogs with five total goals. He previously missed three games due to illness.
“My teammates were finding me,” said Caraballo. “Back side, a lot of ball-watching going on. They found me, and I put it away. I finished.”
“We did not play well offensively for the two-week span that he was not here,” said Fritz. “But when we got him back, we were clicking again. He’s definitely a huge part of our success.”
Down early by a score, the Bulldogs responded with three consecutive goals, including two from Caraballo and one from Reed Drummond, who finished the game with four goals.
However, the Cougars responded with three more goals as Rocco DePaul scored twice and Myles Stander scored once. Xander Frey responded for Churchill with his first of four tallies to tie it at 4 apiece at the end of the first quarter.
“They came out a lot better and stronger than I thought they were,” said Caraballo. “We just had to weather the storm, play Churchill lacrosse, and move the ball quickly.”
Churchill regained the lead early in the second quarter thanks to another three-goal run as Drummond, Jack Thompson and Taigh Merola put the ball in the net.
DePaul fired back with three more goals for Quince Orchard to tie the game back up at 7-7.
The Bulldogs then regained the momentum with three more goals courtesy of Caraballo for the third time and Frey twice more, en route to a 10-8 halftime lead.
Churchill and Quince Orchard kept it close in the third quarter with two goals each from Drummond and DePaul, making it 12-10. But the Bulldogs showed their dominance, pulling away after four consecutive goals in the fourth to seal the home win.
“We were able to make a few more plays,” said Fritz. “QO is a very good team with a lot of very talented players. We were fortunate to come out with the victory tonight.”
DePaul shined in the losing effort for Quince Orchard, scoring a game-high eight goals, including five in the first half.
“He played unbelievable,” said head coach Connor Miller. “When that kid’s on the field for us, he’s one of the best players in the county, if not the state.”
