By Harry Chaykun
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 3/23/23
Conestoga and Episcopal Academy have established themselves as two of the top girls’ lacrosse programs in the area.
The Pioneers claimed the 2022 PIAA 3A championship while EA won the Inter-Ac League and opened the season last weekend by nearly defeating mighty McDonogh School (MD) on the road.
In an early 2023 showdown, which gave a glimpse of how strong both teams might be this spring, visiting ’Stoga rolled to a big halftime lead then fought off Episcopal’s second-half comeback to claim a 9-5 decision Thursday afternoon.
Conestoga (3-0) dominated the first half not only on the scoreboard but also in time of possession thanks to a 9-0 advantage in draw controls. EA (1-2) fared much better after halftime by gaining five of seven draw controls.
Pioneer junior Chloe Brown had five of the draw controls in the opening half and added two more in the second half. She also had two groundballs.
“It’s always been that if you can win the draw controls you can win the game,” said Brown, who has committed to the Naval Academy, where her grandfather was a football teammate of NFL Hall of Famer Roger Staubach.
“We knew what both teams were capable of. It was up to us to be able to do things just a little better.”
Sydney Richter gave Episcopal a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute of the game, but the home team would not score again until the 15th minute of the second half while Conestoga was piling up eight consecutive goals.
Kiki Liebezeit had three goals in the first half and added an assist, two groundballs, a draw and a caused turnover while Keating Hopkins chipped in with a pair of goals, three groundballs and a caused turnover.
Senior Kate Galica had three goals, an assist, thrree draws and three caused turnovers.
“I spent so much time last summer working on the things I knew I needed to get better at,” said Galica, who has signed with Virginia. “Time has gone by so fast since we couldn’t play our season my freshman year.
“This year, we have a lot of people back, we have a freshman (Carolyn Jones) stepping up to help us and our goalies (Alex Lepore and Paige Lee) have been great. We know we have a target on our backs being (defending state) champions. We still have our goals set: Winning the Central League, the district title and another state championship.”
“I’m so happy with the team effort we had out there today,” Conestoga coach Amy Orcutt said. “Our defense was awesome in the first half.”
Among the defenders the coach was talking about were Maria Ziff, Eva Stagnaro, Emma Nikolic and Brooke Braslow.
“We told them at halftime that Episcopal was a very talented team and that we knew that they could come back on us. We know that there are still some things we need to learn.”
Maura Irish tossed in a pair of goals in the second half for EA, and Grace McHugh (4GB, 3CT, 1DC, 1G) and Quinn Whitaker (3DC, 3CT, 2GB, 1G, 1A), who had assisted Richter’s opening goal, cut Conestoga’s lead to 9-5 with 3:27 to play. That’s how it ended.
“We know how we have to play against these teams we have on our schedule,” Episcopal Academy head coach Josie Tomaino said. “The thing that I’m pleased with is how we played with grit and came back. We have to do that regardless of who we are playing and what the score is.”
Conestoga faces another major challenge Saturday when it hosts Owen J. Roberts at 10 a.m. while EA will face Manheim Township, the team ’Stoga beat in the 2022 state championship game in another Saturday match.
Conestoga 9, Episcopal Academy 5
Conestoga 7 2 – 9
Episcopal Academy 1 4 – 5
Episcopal Academy
Lex Ventresca: 1GB 2CTO
Franny Gallagher: 1CTO
Grace McHugh: 1G 1DC 4GB 3CTO
Jenna Morley: 2GB 1CTO
Kate Dente: 2GB
Lainey McGonagle: 1GB
Maura Irish: 2G 1DC 1GB
Quinn Whitaker: 1G 1A 3DC 2GB 3CTO
Sydney Richter: 1G 1A 1DC
Grace Holland: 8 Saves
Conestoga
Kate Galica 3g, 1a, 3dc, 3ct
Kiki Liebezeit 3g, 1a, 1dc, 2gb, 1ct
Keating Hopkins 2g, 3gb, 1ct
Ellie Wisch 1g, 1a, 1gb
Chloe Brown 7dc, 2gb, 1 ct
Paige Lee had 2 saves
Alex Lepore had 3 saves