By Harry Chaykun
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/17/13
Ashley Tedesco held up four fingers and thought for a few seconds.
“We had won three in a row,” the Friends’ Central School co-captain said of the Friends League playoff championship game. “If we were going to lose one, I couldn’t have it be my last one.”
Friday afternoon at Germantown Friends, Tedesco and her teammates did what they needed to do to make sure Tedesco and co-captain Emma Dahle would accept the 2013 championship plaque as Friends’ Central defeated the host Tigers, 14-11, to claim its fourth consecutive title.
Dahle and Kate Forrest, who are juniors, scored three goals and had one assist, Tedesco had two goals and four assists, freshman Jesse Rubin chipped in with a pair of goals and an assist, and junior Bianca Newton also scored two goals for the Phoenix (17-2), who got at least one goal from seven players.
“If we get contributions from (seven) players in our attack, we’re going to win most games,” winning coach Lauren Becker Rubin said. “When we played (Germantown Friends) in the regular season (an 11-10 loss April 16), we felt we didn’t play very well.
“We knew if we played the way we could today, we’d have a much better shot at beating them. We added five or six new plays and moved some people around.
“Everyone did their part. Our goalie (senior Aubrey Faggen, 13 saves) was outstanding, and our defense made big plays at crucial times. We’re very happy with the way things came out.”
Tedesco, who learned the game of lacrosse as a third grader in her hometown of Havertown at camps and clinics conducted by Hall of Famer Kathleen Geiger – “she’s my idol,” Tedesco said with a big smile – knew what to expect from the Tigers.
“The last time, they tried to shut Emma and I down,” said Tedesco, who will play at Lafayette. “Our other players are mostly young, but we felt they could handle it today if they had to play a bigger role in our offense.”
Dahle scored all of her goals in the first half, and Faggen came up with some excellent saves in helping Friends’ Central to a 7-5 advantage at halftime. After Germantown Friends (18-4) got even with the first two goals of the second half, the Phoenix came up with seven of the next eight scores. Forrest got two of the goals and added an assist, and Abby Crowley had one goal and one assist.
“Playing (the Tigers) is always a big rivalry,” Dahle said. “I knew how much this game meant to Ashley, so I tried to make sure we did what we had to do to win it.”
Sophomore Annie Tyson scored six goals and Schuyler Nissen added a pair for Germantown Friends, which hosts Agnes Irwin in the Pennsylvania Independent Schools Tournament Monday. Friends’ Central will host Springside-Chestnut Hill Monday in the tourney.
“Friends’ Central did a great job of executing their game plan, and their goalie did a wonderful job,” Germantown Friends coach Katie Bergstrom Mark said. “Give them a lot of credit.
“But I’m also proud of what my girls have done.”
Friends’ Central 14, Germantown Friends 11
Friends’ Central 7 7 – 14
Germantown Friends 5 6 – 11
Friends’ Central
Emma Dahle 3G, 1A
Kate Forrest 3G, 1A
Jesse Rubin 2G, 1A
Bianca Newton 2G
Sophie Macfarlane 1G 1A
Abby Crowley 1G, 1A
Ashley Tedesco 2G, 4A
Maria Pizzini 2 caused turnovers
Aubrey Faggen 13 saves
Germantown Friends
Annie Tyson 6G
Schuyler Nissen 2G 1A
Claire Schmidt 1G 1A
Greta Meyer 1G
Anna Bezahler 1G
Lauren Shinn 3 saves
