Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 8/14/10
Team Philadelphia earned the bronze medal Thursday in the Girls’ Lacrosse tournament at the Jewish Maccabi games in Baltimore.
Team Philly, coached by Eve Wilderman, defeated the combined squad of Allentown/San Diego/Los Angeles/Pittsburgh, 14-7, in the third-place game.
Hannah Cutler led the Philly attack with five goals and an assist, Arielle Silvera had
three goals and an assist, and Dani Levin scored two goals. Lauren Matt, Alex Silvera, Amy Fink and Claudia Kronfeld each scored a goal, while Jackie Aerenson had an assist, and Abby Goldstein had 11 saves.
“We came out firing, taking an 11-3 halftime lead,” said Wilderman. “This was a true team effort the whole length of the field. We put ourselves in a position to hold the ball for nearly the entire second half. It was a great way to end the week!”
The JCC Maccabi Games are an Olympic-style sporting competition for teens aged 12 to 16. They are held each summer in North America and this year were held in four locations in the United States: Baltimore, Denver, Omaha (Neb.) and Richmond (Va.).
The tourney, which began Monday, featured a 6-on-6 format with three midfielders, one attack, one defender and the goalie. The field is smaller. This was the first year lacrosse was offered.
Team Philly was seeded last in the five-team field after the round robin games Monday and Tuesday, but claimed a key 14-12 win over Baltimore Red in the elimination round Wednesday to advance.
In that game, Arielle Silvera poured in six goals and Alex Silvera had three goals and four assists. Fink added two goals, Matt had one goal and one assist, and Hannah Cutler and Sam Braver each had one goal. Dani Levin and Kronfeld each contributed one assist and Goldstein posted 12 saves in goal.
“With our medal hopes on the line, the girls really came together as a team and fought to win a pretty well balanced game,” Wilderman said.
Team Philly fell to top-seeded and eventual champion South Jersey, 15-3, but Wilderman was pleased.
“We had lost to them the day before and had the same result in the medal round,” Wilderman said. “Still, the girls did a fantastic job slowing their attack with team defense both around the arc and in the midfield.
“Though the score doesn’t necessarily reflect it, our team held its own against much more experienced players (six out of 12 of my girls are going into 8th or 9th grade vs. a South Jersey team with nine varsity level players).”
Team Philly
The Philly Maccabi Games Roster
2 – Amy Fink – Plymouth Whitemarsh HS
3 – Lily Kronfeld – Friends’ Central
4 – Danielle Levin – Barrack Academy
5 – Claudia Kronfeld – Friends’ Central
6 – Jackie Aerenson – Wilmington Friends’ School
10 – Arielle Silvera – Episcopal Academy
11 – Samantha Braver – Harriton HS
12 – Abby Goldstein – Bala Cynwyd MS
15 – Hannah Cutler – Shipley School
16 – Alex Silvera – Episcopal Academy
22 – Lauren Matt – Penn Charter
29 – Devon Scharf – Bala Cynwyd MS
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