By Harry Chaykun
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/30/24
It took 9 seconds at the close of the third quarter for Radnor to turn its fortunes in Wednesday night’s District 1 3A girls’ lacrosse championship game at Haverford High.
Conestoga’s Kiki Liebezeit had just given the Pioneers a 7-6 lead, but Raptor Grace Gordon gained the draw control and dished to Taylor Murphy, who scored her fourth of five goals just before the horn sounded.
That tally sparked Radnor to a 9-7 victory and its first District 1 title since claiming the AA crown in 2017.
The Raptors (20-2), ranked No. 3 by Phillylacrosse.com, open PIAA play June 4 vs. District 1 7th-place finisher Garnet Valley. Conestoga (17-4, No. 4) will meet District 3 No. 4 Red Lion.
“Grace is so good on the draw,” Murphy said of the tying goal. “And she got the ball right to me and I knew I had to get up there and score. I’m so glad I could do something to help pick us up like that.”
After Murphy tied the game, she needed just 34 seconds of the fourth quarter to give Radnor an 8-7 lead. Less than two minutes later, Grayson Buono scored the final goal (her 100th career) and Radnor’s defense took over.
“The play was started by our defense,” Buono said. “I was happy to get the ball and come up with my 100th goal. It means a lot coming in a game as important as this one.”
Radnor’s Kate Gallagher (Navy), who scored twice in the first half, and made a key interception late in the fourth quarter to help clinch it.
“I was still upset about costing us the ball just before that play,” Gallagher said. “So I knew I had to do what I could to come up with a big play to stop them.”
Conestoga owned much of the play in the open quarter when it seized a 5-2 lead. Ellie Wisch scored twice in the first two minutes and finished the period with five of her 10 draw controls.
Keating Hopkins and Wisch both had two goals and one assist in the first quarter and Liebezeit chipped in with the first of her two goals.
Murphy got her first goal two minutes into the second and added another in a 1-up situation three minutes before halftime to tie the score at 5-5. Conestoga’s Chloe Brown (one goal, three draw controls) and Murphy traded goals in the first half of the third period before Liebezeit put the Pioneers ahead, 7-6.
After its fast start, Conestoga did not score in the second and fourth quarters.
“We got off to such a good start and then eased off a little too much,” Conestoga head coach Amy Orcutt said. “We weren’t taking advantage of our opportunities and we were turning the ball over and not making plays on attack or defense. One thing we can take out of this is knowing that there is still a lot of season left to be played.
“And we want to do so that we’re still playing on that last day of the season.”
Radnor coach Lis Zuern, who has 14 seniors on her roster, was delighted with her team’s resiliency after the slow start.
“Everyone had something to do with the way things turned out,” she said. “We started getting draws (Gordon had four draw controls) and our attack and our defense were making plays. We had some huge stops there and continued to work hard.”
Radnor won at Garnet Valley, 11-5, in April and claimed a 13-8 home decision over the Jaguars in the second round of the district tournament.
“This is great for our players and our coaches,” said Zuern. “Now we have to get ready for Garnet Valley – again.”
District 1 3A Championship
Radnor 9, Conestoga 7
Conestoga 5 0 2 0 – 7
Radnor 2 3 2 2 – 9
Radnor
Taylor Murphy 5G
Kate Gallagher 2G
Marin Mooney 1G
Grayson Buono 1G
Caroline Wildt 1A.
Arden Jansen 8 saves
Conestoga
Ellie Wisch 2g 1a 10dc
Chloe Brown 1g 1a 2dc 1gb
Kiki Liebezeit 2g
Keating Hopkins 2g 1a 1gb
Carolyn Jones 1gb
Natalie Yarmark 1ct
Abbie Preston 1gb
Eva Stagnaro 2gb 1ct
Emma Nikolic 3gb 1ct
Cassidy Brown 1gb
Maria ziff 1gb
Alex Lepore 6 saves (100th of the season)
