Black Bear Lacrosse Club SOL Girls’ Lacrosse District Wrap (5-15-25)

Check out the Black Bear Lacrosse Club recaps for SOL girls’ lacrosse teams in action in Thursday’s second round of the District 1 3A Tournament. Pennridge/Conestoga photos courtesy of Laura Rowe. Check back for a gallery. (UD photo courtesy of Greg Lindsay).

District 1 3A second round

#2 UPPER DUBLIN 9, #9 PENNCREST 8

Ava Shohen didn’t give a whole lot of thought to scoring the game-winner when she went to goal in Thursday’s win-or-go-home second round district contest.

But the junior attacker’s goal with 5:56 remaining in regulation broke an 8-8 tie and stood as the game-winner.

“I wasn’t really thinking about the score much,” Shohen said. “I just thought – We need to play hard, and if we’re going to win, we need to start getting things going because we hadn’t been leading since the first quarter.

“We were down all game, and I was just like, ‘We need to get something going.’ So, my teammate, Maeve (Hogan), passed me the ball, and I was behind the net, and I just ran to the net and scored. I didn’t even realize, but we went up 9-8, and that was the last goal until the end of the game, so that was great.”

The Cardinals, it turns out, have not had the best history against Penncrest. Last year, UD fell to Penncrest in the district quarterfinals, 14-8, and the Roaring Lions handed the Cardinals their lone defeat of this season, winning by an 11-8 score on March 22 in a game played at Penncrest.

“Last year, it was not a close game, and this year, they were the only team that beat us,” Shohen said. “We knew they were coming to play us on our home turf, so we wanted to protect our turf. We wanted to get this win.

“We love playing with each other, we have such great chemistry, and we wanted to keep it going. We knew if we lost this game, it would be our last game playing together, so we had that mindset going into the game. We played really aggressive, and we ended up winning. It was great.”

The game was not without its anxious moments. After taking an early 2-0 lead, the Lions made it a 2-1 game after one quarter and then outscored the Cards 6-2 in the second quarter to go into halftime with a 7-4 advantage.

“We were up 2-0, and then we became frantic,” Shohen said. “It was 7-3 when our coach called a timeout. We were turning the ball over a lot, and we were playing nervous.

“She pulled us in the huddle and said, ‘This is not how you normally play. Just have confidence in yourself. Play up to your full capacity, and everything will follow – one goal at a time.’ It calmed us down, and we were able to come back a little bit before halftime”

The Cards evened the score 7-7 thanks to a strong third quarter and went on to win it on Shohen’s late goal.

Leading the Cards’ attack in the win were Anna DiMartile and Maeve Hogan with three goals each. DiMartile also had five draw controls and a caused turnover. Hogan had one draw control. Bridget DiMartile added two goals, one assist, four draw controls and two caused turnovers. Shannon Connaughton had two assists and one caused turnover.”

“Just the way the game was going, no one was ready to end the season end,” UD coach Dee Cross said. “This group is just so resilient”

The Cardinals are guaranteed at least two more games – six of the remaining eight teams will earn a state berth.

“I feel like playing a Central League team is always hard,” Shohen said. “They’re always aggressive and their league is a lot harder, so us being like a number two seed in the district playing a Central League team like Penncrest was a little frightening, but I think it was good for us to play a team like that because now we have to play Radnor, which is another team that’s really good, so I feel like it’s going to prepare us well for the future in the next two games that we play.”

By the numbers: Upper Dublin: Anna DiMartile (3 goals, 5 DC, 1 CTO), Maeve Hogan (3 goals, 1 DC), Bridget DiMartile (2 goals, 1 assist, 4 DC, 2 CTO), Ava Shohen (1 goal, 1 CTO), Shannon Connaughton (2 assists, 1 CTO), Abby O’Meara (1 CTO), Emily Buckius (1 CTO), Caroline Stoffel (5 saves)

Penncrest: Reese Bigler (3 goals), Olivia Wise (2 goals, 1 assist), Cara Childs (1 goal, 1 assist), Lylah Pompetti (1 goal, 1 assist), Taylor Knox (1 goal).

Upper Dublin coach Dee Cross on the game:

–The second quarter: “I don’t know that we’ve ever given up six goals in a quarter, but we got up 2-0, and then it was 2-1 at the end of the first. Defensively, we weren’t communicating. We weren’t doing anything right for a stretch of eight minutes, and we definitely paid the price for that.”

–The comeback: “At halftime, we said, ‘Look, we won the first quarter, they won the second.’ We knew from games that we had watched that teams have come back in the third quarter against Penncrest, and we said, ‘This is your time, this is your time to do it,’ and they did. They tied it up 7-7 by the end of the quarter, and they just found a way.

“We started winning draws. Bridget and Anna (DiMartile) are really good communicating with each other who’s going to take the draw because they can figure out the strengths and the reach, so I don’t have to make adjustments. They’ve played together so much that they know to do it.

“We just really talked about the will to win – ‘Do you guys want to win this game because right now they are playing with intensity they’re playing to win,’ and we kind of lost that for a little bit, and then, by the end of the third quarter – ‘Okay, it’s zero, zero. Let’s start, here it is – one quarter.’”

–Dramatic finish: “I’m just so proud of the way they just don’t give up. In a situation like today, it’s against the only team that’s beaten us this year. We know they’re good. They come from the Central League, and for them to just fight back – it was back and forth, and then Ava Shohen scored with 5:56 to go, and we were able to get the ball and just really work the clock. They play a zone, so we’re like – all right, if they’re going to play in a zone, we’re just going to keep working the ball, and we just were able to take time off the clock.

“We were able to get it down to 1:30, and then we had a turnover. But it was right down on the end line behind the goal, so Penncrest called a timeout, and we double-teamed the ball and just really tried to make them work the clock off also to get the ball down the field, and they never got a point-blank shot. Abby O’Meara and Shannon Connaughton slid to the ball to double-team. The girl slipped and fell, and we were able to get the ground ball, get it up the field. With 18 seconds left, we called a timeout. We were over the restraining line. I think we dropped the ball at one point, but by then it was four seconds left, and there was no way they could get it down the field that fast.”

–Shohen shines: “Ava is one of those players where she is just a workhorse. She works really hard. She’s not a superstar, and by that, I mean she’s not the one that you’re always seeing in the stat sheet. But on the field, if you watch her, she gets back checks, she helps on the ride. She’s very steady with the ball She drives to goal. And a lot of times, she’ll get the assist.

“And she’s just that kid that you need on your team to help complete the offense. And today, she had a beautiful drive to goal and right in the middle of the zone and got the shot at a perfect time. She took the ball from behind and just saw an opening. And she’s so fast. She’s always the one that we want to have the ball on her stick at the end of the game, and she knows that, and she’s definitely a team player and will do anything we ask of her to make the team better.”

–Getting defensive: “Penncrest was very good at moving the ball, and the defense collectively – Abby O’Meara, Olivia Broome, Sophia Sirianni and Liv Coffey – stood tall, especially in the third quarter, to get turnovers to allow us to be able to score. And they’ve worked so well together, so that 6-7 minutes of letdown was so uncharacteristic, and they knew it, and they did everything they could, along with our middies – Shannon (Connaughton), Maeve (Hogan), Anna (DiMartile), and Bridget (DiMartile, they work so well together just to help the four low defenders.”

Up next: Upper Dublin will host #7 Radnor in a District 1 3A quarterfinal game on Tuesday. “Again, another Central League powerhouse,” Cross said. “The girls know if you want to be the best, you’ve got to play the best. And this is going to be another test of what we’re made of.”

Penncrest 1-6-0-1 8

Upper Dublin 2-2-3-2 9

#3 BISHOP SHANAHAN 10, #14 PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 3

The Colonials found themselves on the short end of a 7-1 halftime score but battled the Eagles tough in the second half before falling in Thursday’s second round district game.

Kaiane Jayo, Maite Jayo and Jacque Spinelli each had one goal for the Colonials.

By the numbers: Kaiane Jayo (1 goal), Maite Jayo (1 goal), Jacque Spinelli (1 goal), Grace Harvey (1 assist), Liv Reilly (1 assist), Addi Stein (5 saves)

Plymouth Whitemarsh coach Ellen Reilly: “It was a tough loss. My girls played their hearts out and hustled all over the field. I just think Bishop Shanahan had too much firepower and experience.

“My defense played great and created opportunities, but again we turned it over on the offensive end and couldn’t penetrate and keep possession on attack. My middies worked hard on the draw. And contributed on both ends of the field. We need to learn how to finish, because the hustle and fight is there.”

Plymouth Whitemarsh closed out its successful season with a 15-5 record overall (9-2 SOL).

Plymouth Whitemarsh 4-3-3-0 10

Bishop Shanahan 1-0-1-1 3