Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/13/23
Germantown Friends School goalie Isla Ablin took a few deep breaths and tried to relax as Shipley School made its challenge Friday in the Friends Schools League girls’ lacrosse championship game.
“From a goalie perspective, it was very nerve-racking because Shipley only needed one goal to tie it up, which is a lot of pressure,” said the junior. “So I just tried to focus on the basics and not think about the score. I think knowing that my teammates were behind me as well helped with the pressure.”
Ablin and the Tigers held the lead Friday, 8-7, and Germantown Friends is now a three-time champion.
“It feels great; everyone really brought their all to it and you could feel the energy from both teams,” said Ablin, who had five saves in the final 7 minutes and 11 in all. “The fact that the game came down to the final minutes just made the win so much better. We had to really work together as a team to come out on top.”
Also for GFS (13-3 overall), Emmie Day, Ella Shay and Naomi Shaffer each had two goals.
Shay added two assists, one draw control and a groundball while Day also contributed three caused turnovers, two groundballs and two draw controls. Shaffer also had two draws and a groundball while Sarah Goldberg collected two assists, two groundballs and a draw.
Sadie Duncan, Hailly Murray and Eliana Chapman each had two goals for Shipley (8-6), which pulled within a goal by scoring the game’s final three tallies.
“Every time I would make a save everyone would go wild and that really helped and so I kind of blacked out and focused solely on the ball,” said Ablin. “At the end of the game Shipley really got some momentum back and we were just one point apart.
“The game became about possession at that point and our plan was just to try and hold them out from scoring. As a defensive unit we really just took a big breath together (to try and calm down) and then started talking and pressuring.”
What has been the biggest reason for the Tigers’ success?
“I think the biggest contributor to our success this year and years prior is the fact that we are all so close and really want to work for each other.,” said Ablin. “At the end of the day, lacrosse is a team sport and you can really feel that with this GFS team.
“Every groundball, interception, save, goal, draw control, etc. is for the whole team. Nobody is playing selfishly, you can really trust that everyone on the field is working for each other and that is where our success comes from.”
Ablin said the Tigers’ hard work in practice has paid off.
“Also, another thing is that we are constantly improving as a team,” she said. “This kind of goes to the point above, but I see people all the time staying late or getting out early to really work on their shots or ground balls or whatever else they’ve had trouble on. You can really see the difference from the beginning of the year to now because of it.”
Germantown Friends 8, Shipley 7
(GFS wins 3rd straight Friends Schools championship)
Half GFS 7, Shipley 4
Germantown Friends
Ella Shay- 2 goals, 2 assists, 1 dc, 1 gb
Claire Rigdon – 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 dc, 1 cto
Sarah Goldberg- 2 assists, 1 dc, 2 gb
Halle Smoger- 1 goal
Naomi Shaffer- 2 goals, 2 dc, 1 gb,
Emmie Day- 2 goals, 2 dc, 2 gb, 3 cto
Mae Brockman- 1 cto
Olivia Lutey- 1 cto
Katie Day- 1 gb, 2 cto
Riya Mainigi- 1 gb, 1 cto
Ally McNally- 1 gb, 1 cto
Isla Ablin- 11 saves
Shipley
Sadie Duncan- 2 goals
Zoe Morse- 1 goal
Lily Neilson- 1 assist
Hailly Murray- 2 goals
Eliana Chapman- 2 goals
Rylee Loudan- 4 saves
