Champions have been crowned in all three divisions, and there weren’t many surprises.
Upper Dublin all but put the finishing touches on its American Conference crown with last Wednesday’s 15-9 win over Wissahickon (See game feature).
North Penn clinched sole possession of the Continental Conference crown when the Maidens downed Pennridge 16-5 last Friday night. Halie Lear led the Maidens with four goals while Abbie Hartman added the hat trick.
The win was a far cry from the initial meeting that saw the two teams deadlocked early in the second half before the Maidens used a 6-0 run to earn a 13-9 win over the Rams.
“We didn’t want to have such a close game again,” said senior Caley Britton, who helped to anchor a stellar defensive effort. “We knew we just wanted to take it to them and play our game.”
The Maidens finished their league season with a perfect 10-0 mark. They are 17-0 overall and have goals that extend well beyond winning a conference crown.
“We’re just trying to get better every day and go all the way,” Britton said.
Abington won sole possession of the National Conference crown with its 15-4 win over Council Rock North last Friday night.
Winning in the rain – Two years ago, Abington won its first ever girls’ lacrosse championship, albeit a tri-championship as they shared the conference’s top spot with Council Rock North and North Penn. Last year, the Ghosts shared the conference title with North Penn.
This year, they are alone at the top of the standings.
“This year their goal was to win the league outright,” coach Julie Martinez said. “These seniors are the winningest class to ever play at Abington.
“This core group of girls has really committed themselves to putting this team on the map, and it’s so exciting to be a part of it.”
Two seniors – Alisha Aquilino and Alex Casey - are four-year starters. All told, the Ghosts have seven senior starters in their lineup.
Aquilino (St. Joe’s), Casey (Gettysburg), Jen Kelly (East Stroudsburg), Kristen Dunphey (George Washington), Devon Affleck (Drew) will continue playing lacrosse at the next level. Maddy Evans has accepted a soccer scholarship to Penn State while Kailee Ashby, who has 56 goals and 20 assists through 17 games, will follow in the footsteps of her parents by attending Brigham Young where her father played football and her mother was a volleyball player. Brigham Young does not have a lacrosse program.
Heading into the post-season, the Ghosts boast a 16-2 record. Still, Martinez is hardly turning cartwheels when she looks back at the regular season just completed.
“It’s hard to get excited about a season that has constantly been rained on,” she said. “I don’t mean that figuratively, I mean that literally.
“Everybody is in the same boat, so I can’t complain, but out of all the years I have ever played and coached lacrosse, which is well over 20, I have never seen such a cold, wet spring.”
In an uncharacteristic move, Martinez cancelled practice on Monday.
“I couldn’t go out in the cold rain another day,” she said. “Unfortunately, the old adage is supposed to go ‘April showers bring May flowers,’ but in this case, it’s been ‘April showers bring more May showers.’
“We have talked about it. We have only played in warm weather in two out of 17 games, and that was 90-plus degrees. It’s been a really ugly season. Rain is the great equalizer. We have played on fields where it was like my team was ice dancing. It is what it is.
The rainy weather aside, Martinez acknowledged that this is a special group of players.
“These girls are some of the most amazing girls I have ever coached,” she said. “I look forward to practice every day.
“They inspire me, and they inspire each other, but in thinking about the season, it’s a shame I will probably remember the rain most, but it has been a memorable one.”
The Ghosts, who boast a 33-4 record over the past two seasons, are 68-11 during the four years the seniors have been with the program. Each of their four losses over the past two seasons were by one goal.
The Ghosts’ two losses this season – to Archbishop Wood and the Baldwin School – both came in overtime.
“Nobody’s heart breaks more than theirs does in overtime losses,” Martinez said. “They have been able to show their resiliency throughout the season, and that’s a real testament to their character.
“Above all, they’re a fun group of girls who really are passionate about the sport and want to win.”
Rainy Days: Part II – Angie Yanhocha, like any coach, has the singular goal of seeing her team improve with each passing day. The Upper Merion coach isn’t sure that has happened this season, and she isn’t faulting her players.
“With all the rain, it’s been hard to get any kind of consistency and momentum,” the Vikings’ coach said. “For some of the stronger teams, it’s a little bit easier, but we need practice. We need to be on a full field, and I feel like we haven’t even been able to practice this year.
“We either play games or we’re confined to a gym space for a half hour.”
Like all teams, the Vikings have endured extended periods of time between games because of postponements necessitated by the weather.
“There’s been no flow,” Yanocha said. “It’s been hard because I feel we just go out on the field and play games. It’s difficult. Once you get into a game, you’re supposed to be reiterating the points you make at practice.
“Everything from full-field transition to plays – we’ve barely been on a full field to practice that, so it’s tough to do it in a game.”
The Vikings were 3-2 when along came a layoff of more than a week because of rain. They closed the year 5-8 in league play.
“We had a good thing going, and then all that rain hit around spring break, and we have not been the same since,” Yanocha said. “I think it takes it out of the girls mentally. It’s hard for me to stay into it mentally as well.
“I feel like we haven’t had a season. I feel like it’s an off-season where we’ve had a pick-up game here and there. It’s just been really hard to get any kind of flow. I feel like we should be at a different point. Instead of getting better, we’ve gone the other way. I’m assuming it’s due to the weather and lack of consistency we’ve had practicing.”
Yanocha credited a pair of players for turning in consistently strong performances during a tough season.
“Devin Bowes has been playing really well,” the Vikings’ coach said of her top scorer.
Bowes, who will be playing lacrosse at West Chester next year, has 23 goals and 10 assists. Junior Kellie Manottello also had a good year.
“She’s one of those kids that works hard no matter what she does,” Yanocha said. “She’s been fighting an injury almost all season but still comes out every game and goes hard.”
The Vikings closed out the season with a 6-10 mark.
Game of the week – Janique Craig has been part of her fair share of fantastic finishes during a stellar three-sport career at Central Bucks East and later an outstanding lax career at Penn State, but the Central Bucks South coach has never been part of anything quite like the Titans’ you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it 13-12 overtime win over Pennridge on Thursday night.
With 20 minutes remaining, the Titans trailed by five (10-5) but rallied to knot the score 11-11 on a goal by Casey Haegele with 2:38 remaining. Pennridge’s Jacquie Burke put the Rams on top by one when she connected for a goal with 57 seconds remaining.
The Titans refused to go away.
Haegele – who turned in a stellar six-goal, two-assist effort – scored the equalizer with 26 seconds remaining. The Titans had some anxious moments as the Rams came close to scoring as time was about to expire.
Thirty-eight seconds into OT, it was Haegele scoring the game winner after the Titans won the opening draw.
“This was by far the best lacrosse game I have ever been a part of,” Craig said. “Coming back from five goals to win in sudden death – the intensity was just amazing.
“That had to be the best game in the history of CB South lacrosse by far. I said the first Pennridge game was the best lacrosse game in the history of South, but tonight, they dug deep to win this.”
The Titans, who won the initial meeting between the two teams 9-4, trailed 8-4 at halftime. The Rams led 10-7 after a goal by Jen Moyer with 13:52 remaining, and then came an eight-minute scoring drought by both teams that was broken by a Kelly Hamilton goal with 5:14 remaining.
“In the first half, we didn’t win the draw control, our shots weren’t going in the back of the net,” Craig said. “When it was 10-7, they were controlling it, and that stretch when no one was scoring – that was tough because it was back and forth and back and forth.
“Pennridge was fighting and working so hard. It’s like that between us. Pennridge is very athletic. They’re fast, they’re strong, they’re a great team and have a great coach.”
The two teams have a storied history on the lacrosse field. In a winter league title game between the two teams, the Rams rallied for a come-from-behind win. On Wednesday, the Titans returned the favor.
“The girls deserve it so much,” Craig said. “Coming into the program with no lacrosse experience, working hard every year – we’ve won four games the past couple of years. These seniors they truly deserve all of this. They work so hard.”
While Haegele stole the spotlight, senior Natalie Rube added three goals and two assists. Hamilton, also a sophomore, had two goals, two assists and seven draw controls.
“Casey really came up (big), and I also have to give credit to Kelly Hamilton – draw controls are the number one most important thing in the game of lacrosse because possession is key,” Craig said. “If it wasn’t for Kelly we wouldn’t have been able to score, and (credit) Natalie Rube for getting the draw over to Kelly. It was great.”
Moyer led the Rams with five goals and an assist.
The Titans closed out the league season with a 7-3 mark (13-5 overall).
Moving on up – Three Springfield seniors will be taking their game to the collegiate level next season. Lauren Chandler will be playing at Hofstra, Maggie Canavan will be taking her talents to Bloomsburg, and Becky Brockman will be playing at Messiah College. All three have been four-year varsity starters for the Spartans.
“Without a doubt, in my nine years of coaching – they capture everything you would want from a student-athlete,” coach Ken Rodoff said. “You combine them together, and you have an amazing human being.
“For all four years, they have been the anchors for everything we do in the game with Becky as our last defender. She’s the person who starts our transition with the goalie. They all have a great understanding of field space. They all have a competitive no-give-up attitude.”
Canavan and Chandler were voted captains of this year’s squad, but Brockman is also a leader.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that Becky, since she’s been a sophomore, has pretty much operated as a captain all year round,” Rodoff said. “They’re all great leaders. They organize stuff in the off-season. They’re all about competing.
“They’re individuals that don’t give up, and they don’t give up in the classroom either. As human beings, they have this persistence and drive that guides everything they do. I’m extremely sad to see them leave, but the best thing I can say with the players that will returning is that they need to be aware of how lucky they were to play with these three. If we set a standard for excellence in Springfield lacrosse, I think those three capture it.”
While Brockman is a deep defender, Canavan and Chandler see action in the midfield.
“I use Maggie as a face-guarding defender if we need to shut down a particular opponent, particularly a fast one,” Rodoff said. “On our settle defense, we use Becky to focus on certain players as well.”
Canavan played a key role in limiting Temple-bound Charlotte Swavola to three goals in last week’s 11-8 Spartan in over Cheltenham.
Building a program – Lindsey Earnest knew she was facing a daunting task as Norristown’s third coach in as many years when she took over the helm last year.
“There has been a high turnover,” she said. “I want to stick with the program to try and build the program.”
Earnest is starting at the ground floor. Norristown’s middle school programs have struggled, and there are very few youth programs.
“They started a youth program this year, but it’s not going very well,” she said. “Transportation is a big issue in the Norristown area.
“Financially, even just buying the equipment is an issue.”
This year, Earnest started a freshman team.
“Hopefully, in the years ahead, I will have kids coming to me that know more than the basics,” she said. “I have kids coming to me on the varsity level who have never tried to play with their left hand before, so we are definitely at a disadvantage.
“It’s going to take time to develop into a good program. We have some good kids who will be assets to the program in years to come and kids who are leaving now who – if we had a stronger program to begin with – could have gone a lot further with the sport.
“Lacrosse is a game of speed, and we have a lot of speed. We’re just lacking the basic stick skills. It doesn’t matter how fast you are if you can’t catch the pass.”
The Eagles have three wins this season with all three coming against non-league opponents - Bishop McDevitt, Kennedy-Kenrick and Conwell Egan. Earnest acknowledged that earning those wins was significant.
“I know going into any league game that we’re probably going to lose,” she said. “You hate to be negative, but a realistic point of view is that we’re going to lose.
“The other (SOL) schools have stronger programs coming from the middle schools. For them to at least win some games is definitely something they need for their own confidence. You can’t go out every game and lose 24-4 and feel good about yourself.”
Earnest pointed to several players who have stepped up their game for the Eagles, including senior center Christina DePetro, junior attack wing Kelly Cooney and junior defense wing Sherani Banks.
“I look forward to next year,” the second-year coach said. “Last year I had an assistant coach they had hired before me, and she had never played lacrosse in her life.
“This year I have an assistant who has plenty of experience with lacrosse, and she’ll be there again next year. I hope continuing with the same coaches will help, and the kids look forward to stability.”
Earnest, who played for Wissahickon and later Gannon University, is assisted by Michelle McLoughlin, who played at Arcadia.
The Eagles closed out the season with an 0-14 record in league play (3-15 overall).
“I have to give credit to the other coaches in my league,” Earnest said. “We played Upper Dublin – they’re undefeated and number one in the league, and she just held the ball for 20 minutes.
“Not everybody is like that, but I am thankful to the coaches I play who have enough respect to not jam the ball down our throats because what’s that teaching the kids? Nothing. I am appreciative when people are understanding.”
A player for all seasons – Springfield’s Morgan Smith excelled for a Spartan basketball squad that advanced to the Class AA District One title game, attracting the attention of a D-3 college in the process.
“Morgan loves basketball, and I’m not going to diminish her interest in a sport she grew up playing and loving,” coach Ken Rodoff said. “So there was an awareness on the lacrosse team – ‘Oh my god, there’s a school looking at you for basketball.’”
When lacrosse season rolled around, the junior defender was on top of her game – so much so that her teammates dubbed her ‘Division One.’
“When lacrosse started, it became apparent with every game and every practice that it was – ‘Wait, you’re going to play basketball. Are you going to play lacrosse?’” Rodoff said. “In my talking with her and my experience, the level of lacrosse she could play at the collegiate level is going to be a higher classification than in basketball.
“That’s just a numbers issue. You watch Morgan in lacrosse, and you know this is a natural, gifted athlete that can go and play at a high level. Maybe she doesn’t go right onto the field, but I could definitely see her on a D-1 program where a coach is saying, ‘Oh my god, no one has found her yet.’”
Smith plays defense wing for the Spartans.
“She has amazing game sense – the understanding of off-ball movement, the awareness of where to be, the anticipation of what happens, not only now but three plays down the line,” Rodoff said, attributing those instincts to basketball. “Her IQ for the game is just stellar.
“She can play lock-down defense. She has great footwork. Fundamentally, she gets better and better every time she touches the ball. She has this adaptation skill – she’ll do something, and if it doesn’t work, the next time she gets the ball, she’ll do it again but tweak it on her own to have success. She learns with every mistake and success.”
It could lead to an interesting decision when next year rolls around and it’s time to choose a college.
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