Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/15/10
Taylor Trimble collected five goals and one assist and Blake McHugh had four goals and one assist Friday as Episcopal Academy edged host Notre Dame, 15-14, in a showdown for first place in the Inter-Ac League.
The win raised EA (15-5 overall) to 10-1 in the Inter-Ac while Notre Dame (12-5) fell to 8-2. EA needs to defeat Agnes Irwin on Tuesday to clinch the title outright; the Churchwomen have now clinched at least a tie for their sixth straight Inter-Ac crown.
Alexa Buckley had a hat trick and one assist for EA while Ashley McCormick added two goal and one assist and and goalie Jennie Minnick turned aside 13 shots.
For the Irish, Katie Hagen, Carlianne McCabe and Bridget Burns had three goals apiece. Kristen Bandos added two goals and one assist.
Notre Dame rallied from a 7-3 deficit to tie it at halftime, but now has lost both games by one goal (13-12 the first game). EA took a 15-13 lead on a McHugh tally and after Notre Dame pulled within 15-14, the Churchwomen kept possession most of the final seconds.
Trimble said the game came down to winning the draws and keeping emotions under control.
“Notre Dame is such a great team and obviously beating them by one both times just proves we are so evenly matched,” said Trimble. “It’s a really intense and emotional game for both teams. It took everything we had to win yesterday.
“We had been preparing all week for this one game and knew it was going to take everybody stepping up. At the end of the day we knew possession was going to win it for us, draws and groundballs especially. It really did come down to which team had the ball in order to win.”
The victory was the ninth in a row for EA since an 11-4 defeat to Springfield-Delco at the Katie Samson Classic.
“We have a fairly young team this year and the more we play together the more we click and everything falls into place,” Trimble said. “Also, ever since our Penn Charter loss (the team’s lone Inter-Ac defeat, early in the season) we have really re-focused ourselves so we could achieve the goal we had set for ourselves at the beginning of the season.”
Trimble said EA is now focused on the Agnes Irwin game and know a letdown could be fatal.
“We know the season is not over yet and we have more work to do but more importantly we’re going to bring the same focus and intensity for Agnes Irwin that we did for Notre Dame,” she said. “You can’t underestimate anybody in the Inter-Ac.”
Despite the loss, Notre Dame coach Erin Cook was proud of her team’s performance.
“We really wanted this game today. This team has worked so incredibly hard all season to improve and execute our game plan,” said Cook. “Today was a really tough loss. I am so proud that they came from behind and tied it up going into halftime, and again came from behind to tie it up late in the second half.
“That shows how much resilience and dedication this team has. We lost draw controls in the second half which really hurt us. To lose to EA twice by one goal is a heartbreaker, but it shows how far this team has come as those are our only two losses in the league.”
Strath Haven 11, Archbishop Wood 9
Alex Duckenfield contributed five goals and one assist to lead the Panthers (15-1) to a non-league win over the Vikings.
Caitlyn McCartney scored five goals for Wood.
Agnes Irwin 18, Germantown Academy 11
Chloe Burch had five goals and one assist and Lauren Willcox contributed four goals, three assists, four ground balls and two draw controls for AIS in the Inter-Ac win.
Freshman goalie Lindsey Reder posted 13 saves for the victory.
Caroline Haynie tallied six goals for GA.
Jenkintown 18, Saucon Valley 2
Sarah Flood tallied four goals and Carolyn Smith added three goals and three assists for the Drakes.
Hill School 14, Germantown Friends 10
Greta Witter and Megan Kelly had four goals each for the Blues
Sun Valley 18, Penn Wood 3
Krissy Finn had five goals, including the 100th of her career as the Vanguards claimed the victory.
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