Check out the recaps for SOL girls’ lacrosse teams in action Friday.
ABINGTON 8, RADNOR 7 (2 OT)
It was far from perfect, but it was just the result the Galloping Ghosts wanted heading into the postseason.
While Abington had a couple of miscues late in regulation and the first overtime, it wasn't enough to outweigh a disciplined defensive effort backed up by a standout performance from goalie Kiki Brashear.
A free position goal by Cathy Staerk with 2:38 left in the second overtime handed the Ghosts a hard-fought win over visiting Radnor, capping off a team-wide effort.
"I think it was our best game of the year, hands-down," Ghosts coach Amanda Kammes said. "There were no highs and lows, we didn't go down four goals and rally back. We were in it right from the get-go, took a two-goal lead to start the game. Now we have to keep it rolling."
Brashear made 11 saves, including a handful of big stops late in the second half as part of Abington's stout defensive effort that allowed just three goals in the run of play. Radnor did score four goals from eight-meter positions, including one in the final minute of each half that forced a 4-4 tie at intermission and a 7-7 deadlock as regulation expired.
Casey McCallister paced the Ghosts with three goals, Staerk scored two while Sam McGee, Lindsay Baer and Kaley Enhow each scored once. Baer also added two assists while Ehnow added a helper to go with five draw controls.
"It was about boxing out my girl, feeling where she was and going up and getting it," Ehnow said. "We talked about how we had to be cool, calm and collected and just focus on what we needed to do."
Goals were few and far between for stretches of the game, adding to the playoff feel of Abington's regular season finale. Staerk put the Ghosts up 4-3 with 10 minutes left in the first half, but the hosts had to settle for a tie when Radnor's Julianne Puckette scored on a free position shot with 10 seconds left.
Baer put Abington up a score with about 19 minutes to play and took nearly seven minutes until the next goal. The teams traded scores over a four-minute span, with McCallister putting her team up after a sharp finish with a little more than two minutes to play.
However, Abington was unable to close it out, with two turnovers helping set up Hope Smith for a free position shot with 59 seconds left that tied things up.
"It's never going to be perfect," Kammes said. "It's how we respond to mistakes, have each other's backs and I always tell them, it takes everybody."
Ehnow won the draw control to start the first overtime and the Ghosts held it for nearly all of the three-minute period until they turned it over with about 20 seconds left.
"We set McGee up there, I knew Radnor was going to take away her right hand and she was going to be face-guarded, so we set her up for a lefty cut that she was wide-open for," Kammes said. "She didn't catch it, but it was the right feed and the right play and any other day of the week she likely catches it."
Abington's defense made one last stand, racing back with Radnor and Brashear making herself big enough on the post to force Smith into a tough shot that hit the post just before the period ended.
McGee won the second OT draw control herself and the ball found its way to Ehnow, who drew a whistle in the eight-meter. Off the whistle, she found Staerk, who was fouled and then took care of the rest, putting away the free position shot with 2:38 left to end the game.
"It was pretty nerve-wracking because we didn't know what would happen (in the first overtime), but it went off the post and we got very lucky there," Ehnow said. "I went right to (Staerk) and hopefully it would be shooting space or a foul, and she went right in."
Abington will now await a final seed for the District I tournament and will begin postseason play either Tuesday or Thursday, should it get a first-round bye.
"I'm just so proud of them," Kammes said. "Cannot say enough, just can not say enough about them."
Radnor 4-3-0-0 7
Abington 4-3-0-1 8
NORTH PENN 14, PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 13
Senior Kaitlyn Phifer made her final high school lacrosse game a memorable one, finishing with five goals, one assist and six draw controls. Included in those five goals was the game winner with 1:37 remaining.
“I have to give her a lot of credit – she had a great game today,” coach Heather Mellow said. “She did a really great job.
“Her season was so up and down, and to put that stamp on it at the very end, I was so proud of her. And not just her, the whole team. They never gave up. They continued to fight. It was awesome.”
Bri O’Donnell also had five goals to go along with an assist. Heather Shannon added a pair of goals, and Kristin Varilla had one goal and two assists. Julia Keffer added a single goal. Victoria Brauenele had three helpers, and Mikayla Barrow had five draw controls.
The two teams battled to an 8-8 halftime tie, and the drama continued until the final whistle.
“It was a crazy game,” Mellow said. “We were down 4-0 in the first three minutes of the game.
“The last two years they beat us, and I said, ‘We just have to finish strong. Let’s put something together here. We need to get the draw, we need to get control and come back,’ so we did. We marched right back. We tied it right back up, and from there it was tit for tat.”
The Knights led 13-10 only to watch the Colonials rally to knot the score.
“We had three yellow cards today,” said Mellow, whose team lost Victoria Brauenle early in the second half. “Grace Sacchetti did a great job picking up for her, and we never gave up.
“We finally put it together. We got a little lucky, I’m not going to deny it. Ali Diamond – who had six goals against us – had a great game, and she had the ball in the last two minutes. She went to go to goal, and her cradle – she went to whip the ball, and it came out and rolled to (goalie) Kate Winstanley in the crease. We were able to get the ball, get it straight down and Kaitlyn Phifer scored the goal with 1:37 left.”
Phifer won the ensuing draw, and the Knights held on for the win.
“It was a high energy game,” Mellow said. “No one wanted to give up at the end.
“I know they didn’t have a great season, and neither did we. It was nice to finish one of these games that was a really close game on top because we haven’t done that all year.”
Diamond led the Colonials with six goals and three assists while Victoria Betterly had three goals and two assists. Lexi Petrakis added three goals and two assists.
“We had a five-goal lead, and we couldn’t keep possession of the ball,” PW coach Ellen Reilly said. “(We) created turnovers in transition and on offense that North Penn turned into goals.”
Senior Kate Winstanley had 11 saves in goal for the Knights.
North Penn (3-5 SOL) and Plymouth Whitemarsh (5-4) both closed out the season with 7-10 records.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 8-5 13
North Penn 8-6 14
HATBORO-HORSHAM 11, PENNSBURY 10
The Hatters edged the Falcons by one goal in a tightly contested regular season finale.
Kaitlyn Wallace’s hat trick led the Hatters while Gabby Acker added a pair. Gwyn Acker and Emma Roesing both had a goal and an assist. Contributing one goal each were Camryn Ryan, Gabby Liott and Audrey Leibfreid.
Liott led the Hatters defensively with three caused turnovers, one ground ball and one interception. Gabby Acker had two caused turnovers and one ground ball, and Gwyn Acker had three ground balls and one caused turnover. Wallace and Gwyn Acker both had three draw controls while Gabby Acker, Ryan and Roesing had two each.
Lily Nolan had another big game for the Falcons, finishing with five goals. Annie Price added two goals and two assists. Brooke Weaver also had a pair of goals while Emelie Curtis had a goal and an assist. Nell Webber and Amelia Sharp each had one helper.
Kaitlyn Giandomenico had a big game in goal for the Hatters, finishing with 13 saves.
Hatboro-Horsham (5-4 SOL) closed out its regular season with a 10-7 record while Pennsbury (1-7) closed out the year with a 4-13 record.
Hatboro-Horsham 6-5 11
Pennsbury 5-5 10
COUNCIL ROCK SOUTH 10, LOWER MERION 7
The Golden Hawks battled the Aces to a 3-3 halftime tie and then took control in the second half. Emily Keller led the attack with three goals and one assist, and Sarah Womer had two goals and two assists. Caroline McGovern contributed two goals and one assist while Dom Marino had one goal and one assist. Mikayla VanAken added one goal.
Council Rock South (4-4 SOL) closed out the regular season with a 10-8 record.
Council Rock South 3-7 10
Lower Merion 3-4 7
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