By Stephen London
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/2/12
OLNEY, Md. – After seeing its bus break down, the Garnet Valley girls’ lacrosse team got a late start today in its battle at national power Good Counsel.
The game was tied in the second half after the Jaguars arrived late in rented vans, needed when the bus failed to start from their Baltimore hotel. But in the second half, Garnet Valley used a 5-1 run to earn a 9-5 victory, improving their record to 5-0.
The Jaguars, the No. 1 team in the PA Media Rankings, were No. 11 in last week’s MaxPreps.com rankings. Good Counsel (3-2), was No. 9 in the MaxPreps rankings, but was coming off a 16-7 loss to Georgetown Visitation.
Halley Barnes scored four goals, Ashley Pyle had two and AnnaElise Morello contributed a goal and four assists for Garnet Valley, which broke open a 5-4 game in the second half.
“I think we can play better, but we came out with a win” said Pyle.
“Grittiness,” said Lady Jags coach Kate Henwood, “I don’t know if it was the buses breaking down or just the trip, but we had uncharacteristic mistakes.
“We figured out a way to will the ball in the back of the net.”
After a 45-minute delay, Good Counsel took a 1-0 lead as freshman Alyssa Chalk scored just a minute and 40 seconds into play. The Lady Jags responded however, with four straight goals, with one coming on the man advantage because of a yellow card on Falcons junior Sammi Wilson.
After the Falcons called a time out, Tori Cherny and Caroline Peters scored to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Sophomore Ally Flechsig tied the game at 4 to open the second half before senior captain Morello helped kick start the Garnet Valley attack.
The Lady Jags had a lot more opportunities to score, outshooting the Falcons 28-22. Lady Jags senior Kate Stroup, had 10 saves in net. The Falcons goaltender, junior Meagh Graham, had 11 saves.
Good Counsel coach Michael Haight said his team’s defense made great strides after the loss to Georgetown Visitation, but he felt his offense was not as strong.
“Every possession is critical,” said Haight. “We need to be more consistent on offense.
“We fixed what needed to be fixed defensively from the Georgetown Visitation game. We just need to more consistent on offense.”
Garnet Valley 9, Good Counsel 5
Garnet Valley 4-5–9
Good Counsel 3-2–5
GV: Halley Barnes 4g; Ashley Pyle, 2g; Allyson Heavens 1g,1a; AnnaElise Morello 1g,4a; Haley Warden 1g; Kate Stroup 10 saves.
Good Counsel: Alyssa Chalk 1g; Tori Cerny 1g; Caroline Peters 1g; Ally Flechsig 1g; Sarah Staines 1g; Meagh Graham 11 saves.
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