SOL Girls' Lacrosse Wrap (4-4-12)

Check out the results for SOL girls’ lacrosse teams in action.

UPPER MORELAND 10, NORRISTOWN 9
There wasn’t a whole lot separating the American Conference rivals in Wednesday’s game. Except perhaps draw controls.
Upper Moreland’s Veronica Baez had five draw controls in the second half alone.
“She’s terrific on the draws,” coach Karen Grossi said. “She wins that draw every time – at least in the right direction, and hopefully, our girls will get it because she has such control over that.
“She won almost all of them in the second half, which was key for us because possession is what it came down to.”
Lily Sgro also had two draw controls for the Golden Bears in the second half. The Eagles, meanwhile, managed to control just one of the final eight draws in the game.
“That’s a major component of the game,” Sgro said. “If you win a draw, you can go to goal and score. It only takes six seconds to score a goal from the draw, so it’s nice to know that you have that in your possession.”
The Golden Bears were able to turn those possessions into goals, and it took just 36 seconds after Norristown’s Beverly Pate, who had a team-high five goals, connected to knot the score 7-7 midway through the second half before the Golden Bears got that goal back.
Baez won the ensuing draw, and she found teammate Maddie Mauro, whose initial shot was turned away by goalie Ellie Gilette, but she picked up the rebound and deposited it in the net.
With the Eagles down a player as the result of a yellow card, the Golden Bears capitalized when Kathryn Brunner found Baez for a goal. Sgro won the next draw, and moments later Sgro converted a free position into a goal to put the Golden Bears on top 10-7 with 8:45 remaining.
But the game was far from over.
After Taishay Gordon came up with a loose ball, Kerri Harner connected for the score, and it was a 10-9 game after Pate scored a come-around goal with 1:36 remaining.
Baez won the next draw, but Precious Evans came up with the ball on her team’s defensive end, and the Eagles had several chances to knot the score, but freshman goalie Kaitlin Taylor came up with a pair of big saves in the final seconds of the game, allowing the Golden Bears to escape with the important win.
“It was so scary to be on defense and know it was coming down to us,” Sgro said. “You just had to stay strong and work together as a team. That was our biggest factor.”
“We had to really focus and play intense,” Taylor added.
Taylor was credited with 11 saves in goal while Gilette – a standout hockey goalie who is in the net for the first time this season - turned away 16 shots for the Eagles.
“It’s always a competitive game, and they don’t give up,” Grossi said. “Their goalie was phenomenal today.
“She’s great on the hockey field, and she’s just as good in the lacrosse cage.”
Sgro led the Golden Bears with the hat trick while teammates Mauro, Baez and Brunner each added a pair. Samara Santry had a single goal while Ashley Duff had a pair of assists and Sami Wojciechowski had one assist.
In addition to Pate, Evans had a pair of goals while Harner and Megan Grande each added single goals for the Eagles.
While the Golden Bears - who have already doubled their win total of last season - improved to 1-1 in league play (2-2 overall), the Eagles fell to 0-2 in the league (0-4 overall.

NORTH PENN 20, CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 3
The Maidens dominated Wednesday’s game from start to finish. Rachel Shaw and Aubrie Stouffer led a balanced attack with four goals each. Stouffer also had three assists, and Shaw added a pair of assists.
Brenda McDermott connected for the hat trick and also had a team-high four assists. Laura DeLongis also had the hat trick for the Maidens. Hannah Young, Tara Rogers and Kaitlin Suzuki each had two goals. Veronica Sinotte chipped in with an assist.
Maiden goalie Jenna Stover was credited with three saves in a contest that saw North Penn hold a 45-6 advantage in shots.
While the Maidens upped their record to 4-1 (2-0 SOL), the Titans fell to 3-2 overall (1-2 SOL).

CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 8, CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 7
The Patriots opened up an early 5-2 lead with Mary Kate Schwartz scoring four goals and Lauren Wick adding a single goal. West rallied to knot the score on a goal by Elena Romesburg with 1:20 remaining and took a 6-5 lead into halftime after Romesburg connected for her third goal with three seconds remaining in the half.
West took an 8-6 lead with three minutes remaining after freshman Jacqueline Fitzgerald connected on a free position shot.  East, which held a 21-17 advantage in shots, won the ensuing draw and pulled to within one but would get no closer.
“Our goalie kept us in the game,” West coach Tara Schmucker said of Kyra Bregere. “The game was very exciting as usual with this rivalry.”
Romesburg led the Bucks with three goals and one assist while Jess Circuit and Tara Shugars each added a pair of goals. Shugars also contributed an assist, one ground ball, one draw control and one caused turnover. Christy Grezeszak had three draw controls, five ground balls and one caused turnover.
Schwartz led the Patriots with five goals while Marissa Glatt and Wick both added single goals.
“West played incredible defense, but our attack did not give up, and I think this is a good sign of things to come for our team,” East coach Megan Macauley said. “We continued to work hard throughout the entire game.”
The Bucks improved to 1-2 in the league (4-2 overall) while the Patriots fell to 0-3 in league play (3-3 overall).

PENNSBURY 15, PENNRIDGE 9
Joy Hopkins scored six goals in a stellar individual effort while teammates Kelsy Gumbert and Jackie Sweeney each contributed four goals to lead the Falcons. Alyssa Matthews added a single goal for the Falcons, who led 8-5 at halftime on their way to the non-league win.
Jackie Stevens led the Rams with three goals while Taylor Dachowski had two goals. Aerin McHugh, Maddie Maher and Leah Alcott each added single goals.
Liana Eyre turned away six shots for the Falcons while Lynsey Babcock (10 saves) and Danielle Nichols (five saves) combined to stop 15 shots for the Rams.
While the Rams fell to 1-4 overall, the Falcons improved to 2-4.

MOORESTOWN, NJ 17, COUNCIL ROCK NORTH 9
The Indians knew they would face the ultimate test when they took on a Moorestown squad that is ranked seventh in the country in the latest ESPN Powerade Fab 50 poll.
Although the Indians came out on the short end of the score, they received several standout individual efforts. Senior Kara Magley had a big afternoon for the Indians, scoring six goals and assisting on another. Hannah Plappert added three goals and three assists while Molly Doyle had one assist.
Taylor Beck was credited with four saves in goal for the Indians, who took 13 shots and connected on nine of them.
The loss was the first of the season for the Indians (4-1).

VERO BEACH 13, UPPER DUBLIN 6
The Flying Cardinals also found themselves matched up against one of the nation’s elite teams when they faced a Vero Beach squad that is ranked 11th in the latest ESPN Powerade Fab 50 poll.
Brooke Callahan connected for the hat trick while Kelly Cross, Julie Cross and Taylor D’Ginto each scored single goals. Kelly Cross also had four assists.
The Flying Cardinals are 2-1 on the young season. 

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