SCH middle school sticksters too much for Norwood

Posted 5/21/12

[caption id="attachment_13640" align="alignright" width="279" caption="Norwood’s Libby Burgoyne (right) shields her stick from Reade von Stade of the SCH Lions. (Photo by Tom Utescher)"] [/caption] …

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SCH middle school sticksters too much for Norwood

Posted
[caption id="attachment_13640" align="alignright" width="279" caption="Norwood’s Libby Burgoyne (right) shields her stick from Reade von Stade of the SCH Lions. (Photo by Tom Utescher)"][/caption]

by Tom Utescher

Because the schools are only a few a minutes apart, a girls lacrosse bout between Norwood Fontbonne Academy and the Springside Chestnut Hill Academy middle school varsity seems to be a natural non-league encounter for both schools. However, the proximity of the NFA Lady Bears to the SCH Lions doesn’t always mean their games are going to be close.

In last Thursday’s meeting just about everything went the way of host SCH, which led 11-0 at the half and went on to win, 18-2.

Norwood was still searching for a coach fairly late in the winter, and a pair of players from down the street at Chestnut Hill College came to the rescue. Brianne Timony, a junior middie for the Griffins, is the NFA varsity head coach, and freshman defender Mary Markowski pilots the JV team.

It hasn’t been an easy road for the Bears; they defeated Girls Catholic Academies League rival Sacred Heart, but they lost their other matches, emerging from last week’s game against the Lions with a record of 1-6.

At Springside Chestnut Hill, a group of girls who had been playing together for some time was split up this spring, when three current eighth graders were pulled up to play in the Upper School program. Two of them, goalie Elsa Rall and defender Mikaela Watson, are starting for the SCH varsity. The Lions’ middle school franchise began 0-4-1, but then settled in and won the last four games of the season.

In last Thursday’s game, the season finale for both NFA and the Lions, Morgan Fitton-Zellers scored twice in the first four minutes, assisted both times by fellow seventh-grader Taylor Ferry. The scoring by the hosts continued apace until they led 11-0 with 5:47 still remaining in the opening period. Following a time-out by the Lions, that score stood until the intermission.

When play resumed, the home team rang up three more points, then with 14:15 left to play Norwood broke up the SCH shutout, as seventh-grader Georgia Powell scored from a step off the crease. The rest of the way, four more SCH goals were sandwiched around one by Lady Bears eighth-grader Julia Comerford, producing the 18-2 final.

Eighth-graders Remi Filippini and Meghan McCool led the way with four goals apiece for the winners, who got two goals each from Fitton-Zellers and seventh-grade classmate Mason Rode. There were single strikes for eighth-graders Haley Gelberg, Lily Glendinning, and Laura Lasprogata, and for seventh-graders Ferry, Joia McGivern, and Maddie Stahlecker.

In goal, SCH eighth-grader Frankie Reitmeyer posted six saves, while at the other end the Bears’ heavily-bombarded Bridget Stolarski (eighth grade) made 41 stops.

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