By Harry Chaykun
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/14/23
Early in the year, Penncrest girls’ lacrosse coach Caitlin Morgan and school athletic director Chip Olinger had a talk.
“We were scheduling turf time,” Morgan said with a smile. “I told him to schedule us all the way into June because I expected us to be ‘here.’”
Tuesday night, “here” was at Garnet Valley High’s Moe DeFrank Stadium, where the Lions knocked off Springfield-Delco, 10-5, in the PIAA Class 3A semifinals and earned a ticket to the state championship Saturday at noon at Penn State University.
Penncrest, No. 2 in the PA State Lacrosse Rankings in 3A, will meet No. 1 Owen J. Roberts in the title game at Panzer Stadium. OJR (26-1), which defeated the Lions, 14-7, in the District 1 final, advanced by downing Conestoga, 6-4.
As for planning ahead, Olinger will have to follow his team’s progress in the big game while at sea.
“My wife planned a cruise last November and it starts Saturday,” he said. “That’s why I won’t be going to Penn State.”
His coach might have told him to think about Happy Valley rather than happily rolling along on the ocean.
“I just knew that this team could keep getting better,” Morgan said of a squad that had never reached a district final or won a state game before this year. “They’ve worked so well together.”
The Lions’ work began not long after they fell behind in the third minute Tuesday when Mia Valerio scored for Springfield (21-3).
Junior Adisyn Bernhardt pulled Penncrest even three minutes later on an 8-meter shot. The only other goals of the low-scoring first half came in the final minute. Claire Lynch tossed in an 8-meter shot with 37 seconds left for the Cougars, and 21 seconds later it was sophomore Lylah Pompetti scoring for the Lions, assisted by Bernhardt.
“We were sticking to our game plan and the girls were trusting in the coaches,” Morgan said. “We lost to (Springfield) in the regular season, but the last time we played (district semifinal win) I could see our girls gaining confidence. And they certainly played with great confidence tonight.”
Indeed, the Lions had shown amazing improvement. In the regular season, they fell to Springfield, 16-7, as the Cougars rolled to the league crown with an undefeated record. But in the District 1 semifinals, Penncrest prevailed, 13-12. And Tuesday, Penncrest emerged in the second half when it outscored the Cougars, 8-3.
Kate Stanton, who scored three goals on 8-meter shots in the second half and also came up big with four draw controls for the winners, said she and her teammates were delighted when they learned where Tuesday’s game would be played.
“We beat Garnet Valley here early in the season, 10-4,” Stanton said. “That’s when we knew we’d be a (better) team than last year.
“We just love playing on this field.”
Stanton got the first two goals of the second half, then sophomore Kaitlyn Roth added two in a row before setting up Kathryn Harding to put Penncrest up, 7-2. Allie Hunter stopped the scoring streak with an 8-meter conversion for Springfield before Harding turned passes from Bernhardt and Pompetti into the goals, giving her a hat trick.
“The last time we played them it was such a close game,” Roth said. “The thing for us was to always hustle.”
While so much was going on at the Lions’ attack side of the field, Penncrest goalie Sara Knasiak was turning back five Springfield shots in the second half as part of a solid defensive effort.
“Our defense has figured things out and done well,” Morgan said.
With a lineup that is dominated by sophomores and juniors, Penncrest was expected to use this season as a building year toward the 2024 campaign.
“There’s no reason to just say we got at least this far,” Roth said. “We’re here, so why not do what we have to do to bring it home Saturday?”
It will give all of the Lions something to talk to their athletic director about when he concludes his cruise.
Penncrest 10, Springfield-Delco 5
Penncrest 2 8 – 10
Springfield-D 2 3 – 5
Penncrest
Kate Stanton: 3G, 6DC, 3GB, 3CTO
Kathryn Harding: 3G, 1GB
Kaitlyn Roth: 2G, 1A, 3DC, 7GB, 2CTO
Lylah Pompetti: 1G, 1A, 2DC, 1GB
Adisyn Bernhardt: 1G, 1A
Cara Childs: 1A, 4GB, 1CTO
Mira Kuttymartin: 1DC, 2GB, 1CTO
Marissa Kamin: 1DC, 3GB
Reese Bigler: 2GB, 1CTO
Celeste Cahill: 2GB
Sara Knasiak: 6 Saves, 1GB
Springfield-Delco
Claire Lynch 2G
Mia Valerio 1G
Allie Hunter 1G
Erin DeStefano 1G
Maddy McBride 6 saves
Geena Augello 1 save
