©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Quakers top Lions for last berth in tourney
by TOM UTESCHER

Junior Kelsey McDowell scored Penn Charter’s first goal of the second half in last Tuesday’s league game, and the Quakers kept pulling away to notch a 9-4 victory over Springside. (Photo by Lene White)

At the beginning of last week Springside School still had an outside chance of making the Girls Inter-Ac League lacrosse tournament; it would take a win over Penn Charter on Tuesday, along with a victory in a special overtime session against Episcopal Academy slated for the following afternoon.

That scenario was already spoiled by the end of Tuesday’s match, as the Lions lost to the visiting Quakers, 9-4, and Penn Charter snatched up the fourth spot in the playoffs with a regular-season league record of 4-2. Back in April, the original Springside-Episcopal game was allowed to end in an 8-8 tie when, in fact, current league rules dictate that a sudden-death overtime should have been played to snap the stalemate. The Lions and Churchwomen reconvened the proceedings last Wednesday to play just the overtime portion, starting with the regular six-minute OT (two three-minute periods) played in-full, with a sudden death session to be added on, if needed. EA scored twice in the six-minute stint to claim a 10-8 victory, and with it, a share of the 2006 league title.

The Inter-Ac Championship is still bestowed upon the team with the best regular-season record, regardless of the outcome of the subsequent tournament, and Episcopal and Agnes Irwin each finished up at 5-1, while Charter and Germantown Academy each had a record of 4-2. To seed the teams for the postseason tournament, head-to-head match-ups were revisited, and that gave Episcopal the nod over Irwin, and GA the third seed over Penn Charter. Springside ended its league campaign with a 1-5 record, its lone victory coming against Notre Dame Academy, 19-5.

The Lions (6-6-1 overall) held their own through the first 15 minutes of Tuesday’s tilt, only trailing Penn Charter 3-2 at that point. The opening goal by PC’s Kerri McLernan was answered by Springsider Emery Maine (assist: Julie Platt), then Charter’s Nora McGurkin earned a pair of assists on goals by Annie McKenna and Julia Bateman. Maine placed a free-position shot into the top right corner of the cage to get the hosts back within one.

The Quakers were enjoying more ball possession than the home team, but early in the game they found it wasn’t so easy to penetrate the Springside defense. Alison Curry played aggressive pressure “D”, Maggie Kyle made some well-timed checks to jar the ball loose from Penn Charter players, and Jess Griffin picked off several PC passes.

In response, Penn Charter took a patient approach, moving the ball around in the set offense and looking to pass it inside, instead of run it through. An outside feed from McLernan set up Bateman’s second goal with 3:30 left in the opening period, and from the left of the cage McGurkin squeezed a pass in to Danielle Yorko, who made it 5-2 with 37 seconds remaining.

Five minutes into the second half, Springside’s Platt dashed up the middle of the field to score on a high shot that deflected in under the crossbar. Penn Charter stretched the score out to 7-3, sinking shots with 14:18 and 12:44 showing on the game clock. McKenna earned assists on both goals, which came from Kelsey McDowell and Yorko.

While Springside defenders were often able to dislodge the ball from the Quakers’ sticks, Lions coach Brooke Fritz pointed out, “We didn’t finish the play to get the turnover, because the ball would be down and Penn Charter would come up with it again. They were tougher, and we kind of crumbled to their aggressiveness.”

To get back in the game, Springside needed to string together a series of goals, but throughout the contest, the points only came one-at-a-time for the Lions. Their last one went on the board with 9:55 to go, when Maine scored from near the left post off of a pass from Platt.

The Quakers’ McGurkin dodged in to score with a little over five minutes remaining, then assisted on McLernan’s second goal of the afternoon at the three-minute mark. In between, PC goalie Robin McDowell (eight saves) foiled a free-position gambit by Springside, then stopped a shot by Leslie Jacoby to help keep the Lions at bay.

Springside had several other scoring opportunities in the waning moments, but McDowell saved shots by Curry and Maine, and PC’s Virginia McMunigal blocked a free-position attempt by Jacoby.

“Their goalie came up with some key saves when we got a little momentum and had a couple free positions,” Springside’s Fritz remarked.

The score might have been truly lopsided if not for Lions goalie Maeve Koch, who finished with 16 saves for the day.

In the abbreviated bout at Episcopal the next afternoon, EA junior Logan Greer scored a goal in each of the two three-minute overtime periods, nailing down a 10-8 victory and a share of the Girls Inter-Ac championship for the Churchwomen.