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FORT WASHINGTON – Liz Chatburn was everywhere.
Or at least that’s what it must have felt like to Wissahickon’s lacrosse team in Wednesday’s American Conference showdown against Upper Dublin.
With time winding down in the opening half, the Flying Cardinals’ senior came up with the ball on the draw after a Nikki Harchut goal had given Upper Dublin a three-goal cushion with 21 seconds remaining.
Moments later, Chatburn connected on an eight-meter shot that sent the Flying Cardinals into halftime with a 9-5 lead and, more importantly, gave them momentum they would not lose en route to a 15-9 win that solidified their stronghold on first place in the American Conference standings.
Chatburn, who had a hat trick in the first half, scored a team-high four goals. Her performance was especially impressive considering that she had returned home late Tuesday night after four days in Disney World with her senior class trip.
“I didn’t know what to expect from (the seniors) because they hadn’t practiced in two days,” Upper Dublin coach Dee Cross said. “We really stressed to the underclassmen that we had to play together. I said it has to be a total team effort.
“Liz Chatburn came back and had one of the best games of her season at a very key time. She is a senior, and I know they’re exhausted.”
That exhaustion was temporarily put on the back burner when it came time for the Cardinals to face their archrivals.
“We were really nervous to come out because we thought we’d be so tired from being at the parks all day, but we were really excited,” Chatburn said. “We knew we could do it.
“Our team has been working really hard at practice, so we were confident they could bring us into it, no matter how tired we were.”
The win gave the Flying Cardinals (9-0) a two-game lead over the second place Trojans (7-2), and barring a major collapse, they will defend a title they own.
“It means so much, especially our senior year,” Chatburn said. “It’s definitely a good thing to win it twice in a row, and winning it our senior year means a lot to me.”
Amy and Kelly Cross each added the hat trick for Upper Dublin. Kelly also had three assists.
“This is huge,” Amy Cross said. “I don’t know if anybody expected (a championship). We definitely lost some key players from last year.
“You always hope for this, but you never know at the beginning of the season. It would be really awesome if we were able to finish out and win the league outright.”
Wissahickon was led by the four-goal, one-assist effort of junior Aubrey Bossert, who admitted things did not exactly go as planned for the Trojans.
“It was really frustrating,” she said. “Our passes just weren’t on. A lot of times we overthrew it, and they would intercept it.
“We had some fouls that cost us, and basically draw controls – you win the draw, you win the game, but we didn’t pull it in. A lot of times we would foul on the draws. When something goes wrong, we can’t put our heads down. We have to keep going.”
The Flying Cardinals got on the scoreboard first on a goal by Kelly Cross after a Grace Stockbower interception of a goalie clear. They led 2-0 after Jordan O’Reilly scored on a free position, and upped that advantage to three when Kelly Cross found Brooke Callahan on the right post for the score.
Wissahickon got on the scorboard when Aubrey Bossert streaked to goal off the ensuing draw (Samantha Stutman assist).
Just over a minute later, Kelly Cross scored after a Callahan takeaway. Then it was Harchut coming up with the ball on the draw and, moments later, Chatburn scoring on a come-around goal that gave the Cardinals a 5-1 lead at the 15:21 mark.
“We were reading the draws really well,” Amy Cross said. “Everyone on the circle was working really hard to step in front, and that really helped because we were able to control a lot of the draws and got it down on our attacking end.”
Less than a minute later, Wissahickon’s Natalie Draham scored, and then – after Anne Bracaglia came up with the ball on the draw – the Trojans trimmed the Cardinals’ lead to 5-3 after a pretty passing sequence from Draham to Bracaglia to Aubrey Bossert for the score.
The Cardinals responded with an eight-meter goal from Amy Cross, but Bracaglia (Bossert assist) answered to make it a 6-4 game with 7:13 remaining.
Then came a stretch the Trojans would like to forget as – for the second time in the half – they watched the ball go over the end line on an errant pass, negating a Draham interception. The Cardinals made it hurt when Chatburn connected on an eight-meter shot.
“We were turning the ball over, and they were finishing,” Trojan coach Jamie Donovan said. “When our errors outnumber our finishes, we’re going to lose. It’s a lesson we have to learn as a team.
“It wasn’t one girl making every mistake. It was a lot of girls making a lot of mistakes. We have the skills to win this game, but when the skills aren’t showing themselves, mentally we’re not there. There are certain hurdles we need to overcome that aren’t skill related.”
It looked like it might be a two-goal game at the intermission after Bracaglia scored with 41 seconds remaining, but then came a pivotal sequence that saw Harchut and Chatburn score in a 17-second span, sending the Trojans into halftime with a 9-5 lead.
“At some parts of the game, it wasn’t what we were doing wrong but what they were doing right,” Donahue said. “When they win the draw, they have a lot of girls that run through the circle with speed and can maintain the ball in their possession.
“We need to do that, and we can do that, but the mental aspect was missing today.”
A goal by Kelly Cross 29 seconds into the second half was followed by back-to-back Bossert goals, the second with a Bracaglia assist that made it a 10-7 game.
“She wins balls and never gives up,” Donahue said of Bossert. “Without her, we wouldn’t have had many goals today.”
Trojan goalie Jessica Scannapieco (12 saves) came up with several big stops, but a goal by Amy Cross at the 13:36 mark sparked a 5-2 Cardinal run to close out the game and seal the Trojans’ fate.
“Everyone really stepped up today – defense, midfield, offense and Janine (Rosa), our goalie,” Amy Cross said. “We all knew we were going to have to play tough and keep it out of our (defensive) end.
“We tried to do everything we could, so we would have it on our end and control the ball.”
"I was very pleased,” coach Cross said. “I thought all ends of the field we played together as a team, and that really paid off in the end.”
EXTRA SHOTS: Upper Dublin senior Jenn Brannen, who has been injured all season, came off the bench to score a pair of goals in the closing minutes of the game. “She really did a nice job in a key game to keep the momentum on our side,” coach Cross said….All but lost in the shuffle was the standout play of the Cardinals’ defense. A sequence that effectively captured their relentless effort came late in the game when – with the outcome all but decided - Grace Stockbower came up with a pair of interceptions. “Grace Stockbower and Laura Hitchings had great games today,” coach Cross said. “That’s where it starts. Once the attack sees the defenders stepping up and making a key stop, it really helps them to gain confidence. You could see the whole team raise their level.”
UPPER DUBLIN 15, WISSAHICKON 9
Wissahickon 5 4-9
Upper Dublin 9 6-15
Goals/Assists: Wissahickon – Aubrey Bossert 4-1, Anne Bracaglia 2-2, Natalie Draham 2-0, Samantha Stutman 0-1, Ashley Bossert 0-1. Upper Dublin – Liz Chatburn 4-0, Kelly Cross 3-3, Amy Cross 3-0, Jenn Brannen 2-0, Nikki Harchut 1-1, Jordan O’Reilly 1-0, Brooke Callahan 1-0.
Shots: W-19, UD-28
Saves: Jessica Scannapieco (W) 11, Janine Rosa (UD) 4.
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