Brady, Broscious save the day for Bonner-Prendie
MARPLE — When Cardinal O’Hara began chipping away against Bonner-Prendergast in Thursday’s Catholic League girls lacrosse showdown, it was pretty clear the Pandas needed a break in the action.
Cue the timeout called by coach Amy Tricome with less than 10 minutes to play in regulation after O’Hara trimmed Bonner-Prendie’s lead to three goals.
“I was giving them a breather, but I was also yelling at them,’ Tricome said, with a laugh. “They were complaining, but I kept telling them that it will pay off. They picked it up and turned it around. Sometimes they need that push.’
Except… well, the coachspeak didn’t resonate right away. B-P was still reeling and playing in defensive mode as the host Lions engineered a furious comeback.
Out of the timeout, O’Hara struck two more times. Led by senior Jess Randazzo’s offensive exploits, the Lions had the look of a team that wasn’t going to lose. Randazzo seemed to find a second gear in the latter stages. She created turnovers and was effective in open space. She fired in O’Hara’s final three goals and got her team to within one.
The Pandas didn’t crumble. They eventually took possession in the final minute and ran out the clock.
“We were nervous, but we knew we could do it,’ B-P senior attack Abby McCusker said.
Sophomore Paige Brady scored two of her three goals after halftime and freshman Carly Broscious netted what proved to be the game-winner as Bonner-Prendie held on for a 9-8 triumph.
How rare is a Bonner-Prendie win over O’Hara in girls lacrosse? The last time was May 10, 1999, when the Pandas defeated the Lions, 9-2, on the final day of the regular season. Prendie went on to claim the Philadelphia Catholic League championship that year.
Over the last 16 years, O’Hara would routinely dominate the programs’ head-to-head meetings.
“Just beating them for once feels great,’ said defender Emily Hudash, who had one goal.
The Bonner-Prendie girls teams have had O’Hara’s number in three of the top female sports this school year. Field hockey won in the fall, girls basketball dominated in the winter and lacrosse got in done in thrilling fashion Thursday.
Let the bragging begin.
“We knew coming in that it would be a struggle. But after a couple minutes, I knew we were going be able to stay in the game,’ said Brady, whose first two goals came off free positions. She scored unassisted midway through the second half to put the Pandas in front, 8-3. “(Tricome) yelling at us on the sideline, I think, really pumped everyone up. I felt like I had to step up and bring more energy to the game, too.’
Randazzo, an All-Delco field hockey player who will play the sport at Rider next fall, sparked O’Hara’s rally and made life difficult for the Prendie defense.
“She’s really quick,’ McCusker said.
The Lions also received goals from Maureen Heneghan and Anna DiRita. On the defensive side, Carrie Zamonski made 12 of her 17 saves in the opening half.
O’Hara’s Molly Grady and Randazzo gave O’Hara a 2-0 advantage in the first half. Brady got the Pandas on the board to make it 2-1. Reilly Dolan, who excelled on draw controls for the Pandas, forced a turnover and scored roughly a minute after Brady to even things up late in the first half.
Bonner-Prendie junior goalie Brianna Allison, who never played the sport before this year, was big down the stretch. She made eight saves in the cage.
First-year O’Hara coach Allison Lovejoy, former head field hockey coach at Bonner-Prendergast, was pleased to see the Lions fight back after Prendie jumped ahead by five goals in the second half.
“They hit a little rough patch, but they came back. It came down to the last 30 seconds where if we could have gotten control of the ball, I thought we would have tied it. Meghan Shallow was really fighting to get control there at the end,’ Lovejoy said. ‘There’s a few things we really need to work on. We’re still a fairly young team and we’re still getting used to each other, so there’s a lot of room for growth. We lost, but we played well. We’ll learn from this and move forward.’
