By Nate Oxman
It would have been an appropriate ending.
North Penn senior Lauren McDermott was playing keep-away from a pair of Abington defenders as the final minute of Tuesday’s District One AAA playback game at Spring-Ford High School wound down.
Then McDermott split a double team and found nothing but turf between her and Lady Ghosts’ senior goalie Alisha Aquilino.
Abington’s Kristen Dunphey collided with McDermott as she was about to let off a shot and was whistled for a red card.
That left McDermott with a penalty shot and provided an even more appropriate ending as the senior attack player found the back of the net for the seventh time and not only sealed an 18-12 Maidens’ win but a trip to the PIAA tournament as well.
“It’s always been a rivalry,” said McDermott of the game against former SOL National Conference foe Abington. “We were really looking forward to this game and qualifying for states. We wanted to get to states. That was our goal and now we’re going. We’re so excited.”
The Maidens moved on thanks to an impressive early showing that was highlighted by strong defensive play which provided the springboard for the team’s quick-strike offense.
“Just to play our game, North Penn lacrosse,” said McDermott of her team’s game plan coming in. “From the very first second when the whistle blew, we were so ready. We all played so hard. Everybody left their heart out on the field today.”
McDermott – taking advantage of some early Ghosts turnovers - scored the first four goals of the game to give the Maidens a 4-0 advantage with 15 minutes, 20 seconds to play in the first half.
“We were out-hustled, we were outplayed,” said Abington coach Julie Martinez. “We turned the ball over too many times in the opening minutes. We threw the ball away and you can’t win a game if you throw the ball away. It’s simple.”
Goals by Abington’s Maddy Evans (three goals), Carli Fitzgerald, and Courtney Cox in the ensuing five minutes pulled the sixth-seeded Ghosts within 6-3 before the second-seeded Maidens emphatically extinguished what seemed like a slight shift in momentum.
Five consecutive North Penn scores in a two minute, 53 second span - including back-to-back goals by senior co-captain Alyssa Culp – stretched the lead to 11-3.
The Lady Ghosts responded with two straight scores themselves – the first on a nice feed from junior midfielder Kate Cooper to Cox (three goals) and the second on a well-placed shot from Cooper (three goals) into the bottom-left corner of the goal.
But the high-powered Maidens’ attack answered right back with two scores in the final minute of the first half – one on a pretty move by Culp and the other by sophomore midfielder Stacey Pellechia – to take a comfortable 13-5 lead into the break.
The deficit left the Lady Ghosts reeling and coach Julie Martinez’ asking her players to pick up the intensity in the second half.
Ghosts senior co-captain Alex Casey did her part by picking up a bouncing ball off of a draw, racing past the North Penn defense to goal, and putting a nice fake on Maidens’ goalie Lyndsay Hepler for a score with 21:25 left.
But once again the Maidens bounced back with two quick scores. The second came courtesy of highlight-reel material from McDermott, who had the ball knocked loose by the feisty Evans before scooping it off the turf and simultaneously spinning to her right to shake Evans. Heading toward goal, McDermott spun again in traffic and then released a low scorcher past Aquilino for the score.
“We took it hard to goal,” said McDermott on her team’s success on the offensive end. “We went hard.”
The Lady Ghosts did show signs of life late, trimming a 17-10 deficit to 17-12 thanks to a hard-earned goal by senior attackmen Kailee Ashby, who corralled the ball off of a draw and used her blazing speed to race up the right side of the field, wheel around from behind the goal, and slip a low shot past Hepler.
It was the dangerous Ashby’s only goal of the game, a stat Maidens coach Jami Wilus credited to the blanketing defense of junior Brittany Hanrahan.
“I knew from [coach] Wilus that she was their main scorer and that she liked to put the ball in the back of the net. And my job was to stop her,” said Hanrahan. “I don’t really know much about the attackers going into games and I have had a few of these assignments before, but I’m just waiting to see what she has out on the field and then I adjust to that.”
Hanrahan helped keep Ashby scoreless until there was 6:04 left to play.
“She was very fast,” said Hanrahan. “She cut very hard trying to get away from me. But that’s something I have to adjust to and I need to know to keep my space and once she slowed down to take advantage of being on top of her because she’s so quick, she can get away.”
The second score came from Cox with 3:32 to go, but that was all the offense the Ghosts could muster.
The win also helped the Maidens erase the sting of last Saturday’s gut-wrenching overtime loss to Bayard Rustin in the quarterfinals.
“It was definitely motivation,” said McDermott of the loss. “If anything it was for the better because we learned from it. We learn from our mistakes and today we really showed that.”
“We had a break Sunday and thought about it,” said McDermott. “We had an awesome practice Monday and a good walk-through before the game today.”
Next up will be another playback game, this time against fourth-seeded Unionville on Thursday at West Chester Henderson at a time to be determined, with the winner earning District One’s fifth seed and the loser taking the sixth spot.
The Lady Ghosts have one last shot of securing the seventh and final state playoff spot in a playback game vs. eighth-seeded Boyertown on Thursday at West Chester Henderson at a time to be determined.
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