PW picked up an impressive non-league win Thursday. Check out the Black Bear Lacrosse Club recap.
PLYMOUTH WHITEMARSH 11, PLEASANT VALLEY 10
The Colonials won a thriller over a strong Pleasant Valley squad on Thursday, and they needed a heroic – and improbable - comeback to do it.
It was PW’s ninth win of a successful season, and this was, by far, the most impressive.
“It was an amazing effort by our entire team,” PW coach Ellen Reilly said.
Amazing might be an understatement for a comeback that saw the Colonials – sparked by the inspired eight-goal effort of Maite Jayo - rally from a 9-2 halftime deficit to eke out the win, outscoring their visitors 9-2 after the intermission. In addition to Jayo's seven second-half goals, PW's defense comprised of Katie Lukens, Keira Whelan, Soph Nagle, Harper Reilly, Esther Backentose also stole the spotlight.
“It was a tough game against a very good Pleasant Valley team,” Reilly said. “They have some great players, and we knew that going in and practiced with that in mind this week.
“Our initial plan did not work too well. We did a hybrid zone that my players wanted to do and tried to concentrate on their two great scorers Rylee Rath and Devon Bush. Combined at half they had 7 of their team’s 9 goals.
“So, at halftime, I told the girls we were going to face guard the two of them and make their other players beat us. My low defenders did what they needed to do thru communication, and my two defenders who were face guarding did their jobs.”
To say the strategy paid dividends would be an understatement.
“One by one, either Pleasant Valley made a turnover or we had a caused turnover or our goalie made the save,” Reilly said. “And we made it count on the other end. Or should I say Maite Jayo made it count. She put us on her back and scored 7 of her 8 goals in the second half. All the attackers did their jobs by working hard on the offensive end and keeping their defenders busy.”
The ending was not without drama.
“We tied it up with a minute and 30 seconds left in the game,” Reilly said. “But I knew we still needed something to happen because Rylee Rath had dominated the draw control. She was amazing on the draw. No matter what we tried to do, she directed the ball into her stick side 90 percent of the time.
“But my defenders didn't give up and created a turnover, and it gave us a minute left. Maite wanted the ball and wasn't going to lose scoring the winning goal. There was still time on the clock (after she scored), and Rylee won the draw, but we came up with it off a scrum, and Kaine Jayo maintained possession to run out the clock.”
By the numbers: Plymouth Whitemarsh: Maite Jayo (8 goals, 1 assist), Grace Havey (2 goals, 2 assists), Riley Martin (1 goal)
Addi Stein – 5 saves (2 at critical times in the second half)
Pleasant Valley: Devon Bush (4 goals, 4 assists), Rylee Rath (4 goals), Brielle Halamar (2 goals)
Up next: Plymouth Whitemarsh (9-2, 4-1 SOL) will host Springfield Twp on Monday.
Plymouth Whitemarsh 2-0-4-5 11
Pleasant Valley 3-6-1-0 10
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