By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/31/09
Radnor senior defender Beasley Hays said she and her teammates left her Senior Prom Friday night a little early to make sure she had enough rest for Saturday’s Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) quarterfinal playoff against Archbishop Carroll.
The move paid off as the Red Raiders raced to a 9-1 lead and held off a late Carroll comeback attempt before claiming a 14-7 victory at West Chester East.
The win moves the Raiders into the semifinals Tuesday against District 3 champion Manheim Township, a 13-10 winner over Peters Township. The game will be played at a neutral site and time to be determined today, probably in Berks County.
Radnor, the District 1 runner-up, tallied seven unanswered goals to stretch a 2-1 lead into a 9-1 pad late in the first half. Sam Ellis (four goals) led the surge with three of those goals. Courtney Campbell also finished with four goals while Allie Martin and Kelyn Freedman each had two. Annie Woehling (eight saves) was strong in the cage.
Carroll (15-6) gave the Raiders a scare when it tallied the final two goals of the first half. The Pats’ Hannah Schmitt scored the first three goals of the second half to pull her team within 9-6, but Radnor recovered with a goal by Campbell and later Ellis made it 11-7.
Radnor then dominated the final 10 minutes.
“We all came home early so we were ready for the game,” Hays said. “They had a comeback like that the first time we played them (a 15-13 Radnor win) and last time we didn’t stop and talk about it.
“This time we stopped and talked about it and we figured out what was going wrong and we fixed it.”
“They were getting all the draw controls,” Radnor coach Phyllis Kilgour said. “They had a prom last night, so we’re not totally fresh. But we had enough to get it done today.”
Schmitt admitted her team’s slow start was due to a lack of confidence early on.
“I hate to say it but I think we were intimidated – I know I was,” she said. “We even played with them last week at the (US Lacrosse) National Tournament. We knew them, we knew how they played, but they brought it and we couldn’t keep up with them.
“In the second half we showed what we did the entire season. We played great as a team; we did all season.”
Radnor 14, Archbishop Carroll 7
Radnor 9-5 – 14
Arch. Carroll 3-4- 7
Radnor: Sam Ellis 4g; Courtney Campbell 4g; Allie Martin 2g; Kelyn Freedman 2g; Ali Kelly 1g; Amalia Antonoplos 1g. Annie Woehling 8 saves.
Arch. Carroll: Hannah Schmitt 3g; Aimee Gennaro 1g; Alexandra Burns 1g; Ryan Yankowich 1g; Kait Harris 1g. Nora McGeever 5 saves.
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