Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/1/10
Shannon Burns scored six goals and Valerie Paolucci added three and Springfield-Delco held off a furious rally by Strath Haven today to earn a 16-14 victory in the first round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) playoffs at West Chester East.
The victory advances the Cougars (21-2) into the quarterfinals Saturday against Archbishop Carroll at a site and time to be determined. Carroll, which fell to Springfield-Delco, 12-11, earlier this year, defeated Great Valley, 20-12.
The Cougars held a seemingly comfortable 15-7 lead until the Panthers roared back with seven goals in a 15-minute stretch late in the game.
“We did not score for 18 minutes in the second half which proved costly,” said Springfield-Delco coach Keith Broome. “It reminded me of our Great Valley game where we were up 8-2 then all of a sudden it was 10-9. Like Great Valley, Strath Haven never got the equalizer or took the lead which is key! The bottom line is that it is a win for us and we get to keep playing until Saturday.”
Ana White (three assists), Kirsten Wilhelmsen and Lexi Mazur each tallied three goals and Alex Duckenfield added two goals and two assists for Strath Haven, which closed its season at 18-4 and did not lose a game by more than three goals.
“We showed tremendous heart and patience to chip away and come back,” said Panthers coach Jen Duckenfield.
Radnor 10, North Penn 4
The Red Raiders (23-1) broke open a tight game by outscoring the Maidens (19-4), 8-3, in the second half to claim the first-round win at West Chester East.
The win advances Radnor into the quarterfinals Saturday against Downingtown East at a site and time to be determined. The Cougars routed Nazareth, 20-5.
North Penn used a stall to salt away most of the clock in the opening half. Allie Martin led the Red Raiders with four goals and two assists and Courtney Campbell had two goals and an assist while Ellis Kraus scored twice.
Kelyn Freedman added a goal and four assists for Radnor, giving her 102 assists for the season. Annie Woehling had seven saves and has 202 this year.
Halie Lear led North Penn with two goals.
Unionville 21, Hershey 4
Lindsey Smith had five goals and one assist and Lisa Riondet added three goals and three assists to help the Indians (21-3) cruise in the first round.
Unionville will meet District 3 third-place finisher Penn Manor, which earned an impressive 26-9 win over District 7’s Seneca Valley.
Erin Linthicum added three goals and two assists and Jill Murray scored three goals for Unionville. Lizzy Carney had two goals and two assists and Julie Moran had two goals and one assist while Melissa Lloyd made 10 saves.
Hershey is coached by upper Moreland graduate Tami Scola.
Downingtown East 20, Nazareth High 5
Christine Stevenson and Haley Nelson each had five goals and an assist and Kelly Devlin added three goals and four assists as the Cougars (18-5) cruised in their PIAA opener at Emmaus.
Downingtown East will face Radnor in the quarterfinals Saturday at a site and time to be determined.
MacKenzie Rafferty added three goals for the Cougars and Emily Solenberger contributed two goals and four assists. Ashley Poli scored twice and Marya Fratoni made eight saves in goal.
