They spent the season reacting to wins as if something bigger awaited their team.
It did.
On Thursday, the North Penn Maidens downed Villa Maria 14-9 to earn a quarterfinal date with Bayard Rustin in a District One Tournament quarterfinal game.
This – it’s a safe bet – is what they were waiting for.
“I’m speechless,” said junior Abbie Hartman, who scored six goals in a dazzling effort. “I’m so proud.”
“This is the first year you can go to states in lacrosse,” teammate Diana Milano said, “And we’re almost there.
“We just wanted to play on Saturday. It’s such a good feeling.”
The Maidens are ‘almost there’ because they did a lot of the little things that often go unnoticed but usually mean the difference between winning and losing when tournament time rolls around.
“I thought there were a lot of hustle plays out there today,” coach Jami Wilus said. “People played their roles, and it just reinforced what we did the last time we played Souderton – you have to do the little things.
“When you come down to this kind of game, it’s those inches you need, whether it’s a ground ball control or just communicating on defense.”
Wilus pointed to the efforts of defenders Milano, Caley Britton and Kaitlin Colbridge as key. Each came up with big plays, and if one play underscored their contributions, it came in the second half when the Hurricanes were gaining some late momentum.
Colbridge came up with a takeaway on the defensive end, took the ball down field and scored a come-around goal. It typified the Maidens’ effort in a game that saw them take a 7-2 halftime lead.
“We didn’t want to adjust to their offense,” Hartman said. “We wanted to play our defense, play our attack, play North Penn lacrosse.”
And what exactly is North Penn lacrosse?
“Hard work, scrappy, all over everything, not getting down,” Milano said. “It’s playing hard all the time.”
“It’s physical, it’s determination,” Hartman said.
And it worked to perfection as the Maidens built an 11-3 lead after Lauren McDermott found Hartman for the score at the 13:59 mark of the second half.
But the Hurricanes had way too much talent and way too much heart to go down without a fight, and they came roaring back, outscoring the Maidens 6-3 the rest of the way.
It wasn’t nearly enough as the Maidens held on for the big win.
“This means a lot,” Wilus said. “They’ve been working so hard. I know they were a little nervous going into Tuesday’s game, but I felt today walking onto the field, they were extremely focused.
“They’re on a mission.”
McDermott had another big day for the Maidens, contributing four goals and two assists. Dani Horn, Alyssa Culp, Stacey Pellechia and Colbridge each added single goals.
Lost in the shuffle was another solid effort by Maiden goalie Lyndsay Hepler, who turned away 12 shots, including several out of the gate that helped to set the tone.
“Lyndsay always comes up with the big saves,” Hartman said. “I never doubt her.”
The Maidens will face Bayard Rustin in a quarterfinal game on Saturday at West Chester East.
Ghosts win another thriller – Julie Martinez has seen some pretty amazing goals over the years, but the Abington coach insists she’s never seen anything quite like Kailee Ashby’s goal that turned out to be the game winner in Abington’s 10-9 win over Downingtown East.
“It was maybe the most spectacular goal I have ever seen in all of my years of lacrosse,” the Ghosts’ coach said. “She had this look of determination. She was between the eight and 12 meter, and she cut across the cage, crouched down and hit the upper left hand corner in the hardest, most perfectly-placed way. It was like the loudest thunder from the 300 fans that were on our wall. It almost brought me to tears.
“I called a timeout just because I wanted to tell her how amazing that goal was. She comes up, and she was gushing blood. She took a stick to the lip – her lip is sticking out further than her nose right now.”
But Ashby, who led the Ghosts with four goals and two assists, is undoubtedly feeling no pain because her lacrosse team has earned a spot in Saturday’s district quarterfinals.
“We finally got over the hump,” Martinez said. “I couldn’t be happier for the girls.”
Ashby’s goal actually gave the Ghosts a 10-7 lead that was anything but secure as East answered with a pair of goals, including a goal with 90 seconds remaining to make it a 10-9 game.
“We had the ball up 10-7 with five minutes left, and a couple of turnovers resulted in two quick goals for them,” Martinez said. “Alisha Aquilino made a great save with about a minute left. She and Jen Kelly played cat and mouse for the last minute of the game, throwing it back and forth to each other.”
It was the second 10-9 win in as many district games for the Ghosts, who have a penchant for nail biters.
“I do not like it this exciting at all,” Martinez said. “But you think about it – we lost two overtime games this season. We have won two one-goal games in the last two games, and it’s much better being on the winning side.
“In playoffs, whether you win by one or win by 21, a win is a win. A win means you move on, a loss means get in the bus and go home.”
Part of the Ghosts’ motivation may have come from the inspiration they received from listening to Al Pacino’s pre-game talk in the movie ‘Any Given Sunday.’ They went into the game focused on the theme ‘Inches Make Champions.’
“I said to them, ‘Today is a game of inches. If you get the ball one inch past the goalie’s stick, it’s a goal. If you put your stick out one inch further, you’ll get that ground ball. If you jump one inch higher, you’ll get that draw,’” Martinez said. “I gave each of them a foot of inches, and they put them on their sticks.
“With 1:30 left, I’m yelling, ‘Inches, girls, inches. We need those extra inches,’ and they all started yelling, ‘Inches.’ Everyone had no idea what we were talking about, but we all knew, and they really went that extra distance.”
In addition to Ashby, the Ghosts received two goals from both Kate Cooper and Courtney Cox. Maddy Evans and Carli Fitzgerald each added a goal while Molly Seefried had two assists. Fitzgerald also had four ground balls, Evans had three ground balls and two caused turnovers while Kelly had four caused turnovers and two ground balls.
Abington held a 37-17 advantage in shots.
“Their goalie was outstanding,” Martinez said. “She was probably the best goalie we have seen all season other than our own.”
The Ghosts, who upped their record to 18-2, will face Springfield (Delco) in Saturday’s quarterfinal round at West Chester East.
“I am so excited,” Martinez said. “In nine years of coaching, this is easily the most excited I have ever been for any of my teams. It’s the best feeling.
“I really think these girls played better than I could have imagined. It leads me to believe at this point that anything is possible.”
Bears send Cardinals packing – Slow starts are never advisable, but against top-flight teams, they spell certain doom.
Upper Dublin found that out the hard way in Thursday’s second round game at Boyertown. The Flying Cardinals spotted the eighth-seeded Bears a 6-0 lead, and although they battled back to make it a two-goal game, they never could dig themselves out of their early hole.
“Had we not done that, we played well,” coach Dee Cross said. “At the beginning of the game and at the end of the game, we just gave up too many goals.
“I honestly believe it was mental toughness. Boyertown came out with confidence. I told our girls, ‘If you came out with a mindset that you can win the game, it would be a different story. I think we played tight.”
The Bears took a 7-1 lead into halftime, but once the Flying Cardinals settled in, they seemed to find their stride, trimming the Bears’ lead to 8-6.
“Boyertown called a timeout, and I said, ‘Anytime a coach calls a timeout, you’re doing something right,” Cross said. “You could see the excitement – ‘We can play with this team,’ but we could not sustain it.
“Right after that we gave up three goals. They had fresh legs at the end, and we don’t have that kind of depth. That was the difference.”
Another key to the game was Boyertown’s ability to control the draw.
“Their center controlled every draw but three,” Cross said. “She could place it anywhere she wanted, and we were not used to that. We’re used to controlling the draw.”
The Flying Cardinals actually held an 18-13 advantage in shots.
“We definitely had our chances,” Cross said. “I told them, ‘You have nothing to be ashamed of. You had a great season. Take this and build on it.’
“We have a core group back next year. We just have to really focus and be more consistent.”
Amy Cross connected for the hat trick to lead the Cardinals. Nikki Harchut, Kelly Cross and Emily Hitchings each added a pair. Jenn Brannen connected for a single goal.
Upper Dublin, which closed its season with a 16-3 mark, loses six regulars to graduation – Brannen, Laura Hitchings, Liz Chatburn, Janine Rosa, Danielle Derr and Grace Stockbower.
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