Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/20/11
Staff Report
Blake McHugh had four goals and two assists and Taylor Trimble added three goals and two assists to spark host Episcopal Academy to a 16-15 victory over Notre Dame Academy, clinching EA its seventh straight Inter-Ac League championship.
Episcopal Academy improved to 11-0 in the league and 15-4 overall. Notre Dame is 9-2 in the league and 13-4 overall.
EA will play the winner of the Baldwin School-Penn Charter game Saturday morning (9 a.m. at Baldwin) for the PA State Independent School championship Monday at Eastern University at 5:30 p.m. If Baldwin wins, that also will count as the final Inter-Ac game for EA; if Penn Charter wins, EA will close its Inter-Ac season Tuesday against Baldwin.
EA won the first game this year over the Irish, 14-13, and has won the past four games between the two arch rivals by one goal.
Lindsey Reder had 13 saves in goal for EA in the up-and-down contest, while Madison Craft, Ali Singley and Taryn Gallagher each scored twice. Claire MacManus contributed a goal, two assists and three draw controls while Maggie Forker and Meghan Hubley were standouts on defense.
Episcopal Academy never trailed, but the game featured seven ties as Notre Dame continued to make comebacks. EA broke a 9-9 tie in the second half on goals by Kristen Hinckley, Singley, Craft and McHugh, and later Trimble made it 14-10.
But the Irish fought back again and drew within 14-3 until McHugh scored twice to make it 16-13. Notre Dame made another rally, but fell just short.
“All of our hard work has paid off,” said McHugh. “It was a close game the entire way. It came down to the last seconds. It seems like a habit that we beat them by one goal. It’s amazing.
“Because of all the hard work we’ve put in, our team has this feeling we’ll never (let down). I think we go into the games against Notre Dame believing that we have the better team. It’s so much fun to play them because it’s such good competition.
“We know we have to step up our game against them. It’s such a good challenge and I am so excited we were able to rise to the challenge and play like the team we are supposed to be.”
Kristen Bandos led Notre Dame with four goals while Carlianne McCabe and Delaney Tuite each had three goals and an assist. MC McDonald scored twice and Nora McCallion had a goal and three assists. Megan McGurk contributed a goal, three caused turnovers and five groundballs.
McHugh, along with Trimble, has been a starter since her freshman year. In that time, EA has gone an amazing 44-3 in Inter-Ac games. This year’s team, on the whole, was somewhat young and adjusting to a new coach in Kim Piersall.
But McHugh said the players bonded well.
“It’s really exciting,” said McHugh. “We worked so hard. We lost a lot of good players (to graduation) and had a pretty young team. We had a new coach and so many circumstances, but we still rise above it. I am so happy.
“The game was so back and forth. We just felt that man-for-man we were the better team and it came down to who wanted it more. You have to give our team credit. Everyone did their role.”
Episcopal Academy 16, Notre Dame 15
EA 9-7-16
ND 7-8-15
EA
Blake McHugh 4 goals 2 assists
Madison Craft 2 goals
Ali Singley 2 goals
MC Curan 1 goal
Kristen Hinckley 1 goal
Taylor Trimble 3 goals 2 assists
Claire MacManus 1 goal 2 assists, 3 DC
Taryn Gallagher 2 goals
Lindsey Reder 13 saves
ND
Kristen Bandos – 4g
Carlianne McCabe – 3g, 1a
Delaney Tuite – 3g, 1a
MC Mcdonald – 2g
Nora McCallion – 1g, 3a
Bree Buysse – 1g
Megan McGurk – 1g, 3 CT, 5 GB
Emily Faught – 1 assist
Tori Sudjian (NDA) 10 saves
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