By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/27/08

In stretches of the first half of today’s District One Class AA quarterfinal game at Villa Maria Academy, Unionville displayed the quick-passing transition game that has helped the Indians beat some of the top teams in the district.

Then in the second half, Unionville turned it up a notch.

The fifth-seeded Indians (12-7) got four goals apiece from Erica Midiri, Heather Wentz and Lindsey Smith and earned a 14-9 victory over the Hurricanes (19-3) to earn a ticket to the semifinals.

Unionville will play Ches-Mont American Conference rival and top-seeded Great Valley – which crushed Phoenixville, 25-4, Tuesday – Saturday at West Chester East at a time to be determined. Unionville and Great Valley split their regular-season games.

The Indians led only, 7-6, at halftime and were leading, 8-7, when Wentz scored to start a 4-1 spurt that game Unionville control. For most of the final minutes, the Indians were able to utilize their speed and passing game.

“Our game is the passing transition,” said Unionville coach Wendy Landry. “You could see a couple times when we were on with that, it was beautiful. In the first half we were a little too quick to make a pass that wasn’t quite there yet. At halftime we talked about what we needed to do.”

When Villa Maria did get on attack, sophomore goalie Melissa Lloyd (seven saves) and a defense led by Kalyn McDonough, Jaclyn Adams, Molly Kotsch and Jamie Moran held down the potent Hurricanes’ attack. McDonough, normally a midfielder, moved back on defense on a switch with Julie Kepics – whom Landry credited with strong midfield play.

Kathy Young led Villa with four goals while Olivia Maggitti and Chelsea Fay had two each. Kyrstin Mackrides scored once. Emily Reichard added two for Unionville.

“I think after halftime we knew we needed to score more goals in order to win, so we came out shooting more,” said Midiri. “We didn’t know much about them and we just came prepared to play our game.”

“We didn’t take care of the basics today – the fundamentals,” said Villa Maria coach Christa Somits. “They did and that’s why they won. That was the most disappointing part.”

The Hurricanes had fallen behind, 6-2, and then scored four of the final five goals of the first half. But Somits said the team did not maintain the momentum.

“I do have to give our defense credit. We got a lot of turnovers, but we did not get the ball downfield today.”

Tags: Unionville, Villa Maria Academy