Madison Girls Lacrosse Advances to Regional Semifinals With Win Over Westfield

The opening minutes of the Madison High School's girls lacrosse game against Westfield on Thursday night put fans on edge: The undefeated Warhawks looked uncharacteristically out-of-sorts.  

But Madison pulled it together before the end of the first half, eventually defeating the Bulldogs 19-6.   Madison now advances to the semifinals of the Northern Virginia Regional Tournament on Tuesday,  where they will face the Chantilly Chargers.

Westfield played competitively for much of the first half.  The Bulldogs stepped up their game and took advantage of Madison turnovers.  Madison's Melissa Kellan was the first to score, hitting two goals for the Warhawks to keep an even game with Westfield. At one point Westfield led 5-3, but an interception and series of goals by Katie Kerrigan shifted forward a momentum that stayed with the Warhawks for the remainder of the game. Madison went into the half with a 9-6 lead.

In the second half, Madison completely shut down the Bulldog's offense.  Goalie Taylor Rivera-Silva enjoyed another stellar game with 13 saves.  The Warhawk's dominated draw controls and out-hustled on fielding.  In addition to her three goals for the evening, Megan Bisson's prowess on the field was key to Madison's win: she secured three draw controls, three ground balls and had one takeaway.

Kellan and senior co-captain Allison Hahn led on offense with five goals and one assist, and three goals and five assists, respectively.  Kerrigan scored four goals, and Bisson had three.  Alex Condon had one goal and two assists, while Brie Hayden had one goal and one assist.  Sam Babbitt and Julia Kehoe also contributed a goal a piece.

The undefeated Warhawks (16-0) will face Chantilly (17-1) at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Robinson High School.

Karen Kerrigan and warhawksports.org contributed reporting.