By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/10/11
Junior Maddy Lynch scored five goals, including the 100th of her career, and host Springfield-Delco raced to a 6-0 lead and defeated Radnor, 15-9, today to force a possible five-way tie atop the Central League.
The Cougars improved to 14-2 overall and 8-2 in the league. Radnor (12-4), Harriton (15-2) and Garnet Valley (15-2) are also 8-2.. Conestoga (10-5) is 7-2 and hosts Ridley tonight.
Each team has one game remaining. Springfield-Delco closes with Lower Merion while Radnor faces Penncrest, Harriton meets Upoer Darby and Garnet Valley meets Conestoga.
Lynch scored the game-s first three goals and Springfield-Delco led, 7-4, at halftime. The Red Raiders later got as close as 7-5 and 9-7 in the second half, but freshman Kate Ryan (two goals) scored once and Nathalie Basunga (four goals) scored twice before Courtney Kennedy (two goals, one assist) made it 13-7.
Lynch’s goal late in the game made it 15-8 and gave her 100. Alex Poplawski (one goal) added two goals.
The Cougars, ranked No. 2 in the PA Media Rankings, have won five straight games since bowing to Garnet Valley, 13-12. Two of the other victories in the streak were over ranked teams, Notre Dame (16-10) and Archbishop Carroll (14-13).
A key today for Springfield-Delco was winning the majority of draw controls.
“We’re a young team, but we’ve gotten used to each other and we’ve come into our own,” Lynch said. “We have a lot of starters on defense that are freshmen or first-year starters and they’ve really stepped up.
“Everything is on track. We’re definitely in a good place. We’re on a high and we feel confident.”
Radnor got three goals from Taryn Deck, two goals and an assist from Natalie Miller and two goals from Taylor Quinn.
Springfield-Delco coach Keith Broome said he is starting three freshmen on defense for the first time ever. But he has seen a dramatic rise in maturity in the past few weeks.
“We are starting three freshmen on defense and that’s scary,” said Broome. “To win the Central League was a goal at the beginning of the year and now it’s a reality. But we really work hard and we have some great leaders.
“We are playing well and when we play composed on offense we score. We’re doing a great job on draw controls. I think we dominated possessions and we know that’s important against Radnor.”
Springfield-Delco 15, Radnor 9
Radnor 4-5- 9
Springfield-Delco 7-8-15
Maddy Lynch 5g
Nathalie Basunga 4g
Kate Ryan 2g
Alex Poplawski 2g, 1a
Courtney Kennedy 2g, 1a
Kristy Reid 3 saves
Radnor
Taryn Deck 3g
Taylor Quinn 2g
Natalie Miller 2g, 1a
Abby Junior 1a
Lindsay Grossman 1g
Leah Gallagher 1g
Annie Woehling 11 saves
