Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/3/19
Staff Report
The number thrown around on the Radnor sideline Thursday was 65, as in the percentage of the possessions they wanted to keep in the name of muting Garnet Valley’s high-powered attack.
Whatever number they eventually hit, it was pretty effective.
The Raiders controlled the game, with the combination of patient offense and pestering defense, to record an 11-6 win over Garnet Valley Thursday, moving within one win of a share of the Central League title.
“Our whole mantra this season has been possession, patience but always play with speed,” said Radnor attacker Cate Cox. “Just because we’re possessing it doesn’t mean we don’t drive and go hard to goal.
“We want to set ourselves up for success and to get that dump pass the second cut through, so we were just working really hard.”
Cox scored two goals to go with an assist, as did Ellie Mueller and Cierra Hopson. Tori DiCarlo added two goals for the Raiders (11-4, 9-1 Central). Radnor remained tied with Harriton at one loss each atop the league. Garnet Valley (14-1, 8-2) falls into a tie with Conestoga at two losses.
The Raiders close their league season Tuesday at Upper Darby; Harriton plays Marple Newtown.
Radnor led 5-2 in the first half before Garnet Valley battled back to tie the game at half. But the Raiders capitalized on a Garnet Valley yellow to score three times in 93 seconds early in the second half, with Hopson, Sarah Nelson and Margaret Mooney scoring the tallies.
“That was huge,” said Cox, who set up Hopson’s tally. “We’ve had a set we’ve been working on in practice for the man-up situation, and we got three goals back-to-back off of that. That was definitely a momentum change for us, and we needed that.”
That cushion allowed the Raiders to control the pace of the game. It forced Garnet Valley, which was uncharacteristically hasty in attack, to choose between rushing to recoup the deficit and settling into a composed attack formation that would give its defense a chance to breathe. Radnor outshot Garnet Valley, 29-15, with goalie Phoebe Proctor only needing to make four saves, two in the final minute.
“I feel like they were getting very frustrated, even their little conversations that I could hear when we were on offense,” Radnor defender Missy Massimino said. “We were definitely in their heads, and that motivates us even more to keep going because we definitely have them.”
With their transition offense eliminated, Garnet Valley struggled for a consistent push. Caroline Shaefer scored twice in the first half, and Regan Nealon added two assists, but it wasn’t until Kaitlyn Henning scored from Nealon in transition at the 6:02 mark of the second half that the Jaguars got on the board.
Sierra McLaughlin made 8 saves for the Jags, who see a 12-game winning streak end. It’s a loss that they hope will benefit them in the long run.
“It definitely is,” Shaefer said. “We would rather have this loss now than later, and it’s just going to push us harder and to work harder because we want to win.”
Radnor 11, Garnet Valley 6
Garnet Valley 5-1-6
Radnor 5-6-11
Radnor:
Cate Cox 2G
Ellie Mueller 2G, 1A, 2DC, 1GB
Molly May 1G, 1A
Tori DiCarlo 2G, 2DC, 2GB
Cierra Hopson 2G, 1A
Sarah Nelson 1G, 2DC, 3GB
Margaret Mooney 1G
Julia Rigolizzo 1A, 2GB, 3CT
Missy Massimino 2DC, 3GB, 2CT
Ellie Rinehart 1GB, 3CT
Phoebe Proctor 5 saves
Garnet Valley
Lauren Bendo- 1gb
Liv Brenner-1g
Bridget Godfrey- 2gb
Kaitlyn Henning-1g, 1gb
Madi McKee-2gb, 5dc
Kara Nealon- 1g, 1gb, 1dc, 1ct
Regan Nealon- 1a, 2ct
Caroline Shaefer- 2g, 1gb
Devin Taulane- 3gb
Kathryn Toohey- 1g, 2dc
Sierra McLaughlin- 8 saves