Henderson girls’ lacrosse team beats Shanahan for 1st time in 4 years

Downingtown >> A few minutes after the West Chester Henderson girls’ lacrosse team defeated host Bishop Shanahan 9-7 Thursday, Warrior senior attack Lilly Siskind reflected on her team’s first win against the Eagles in four years.
“As a senior, this is really exciting,” said Siskind, who contributed a hat trick. “The tensions were high coming into the game – we knew Shanahan was going to be a tough team. But we have a lot of seniors on this team that [display] leadership. Coming into this season we knew this was going to be a big year for us, so we worked hard in the off-season, indoors [when necessary], and coming into this game we really wanted to play well.”
The victory improves the Warriors’ Ches-Mont League record to 6-1 (8-2 overall). Shanahan’s league mark falls to 5-2.
The Warriors marched out to a 4-1 lead with 7:52 left in the first half, with a couple of the goals coming from senior midfielder Jordyn Bauer, who along with Siskind has provided plenty of scoring punch for Henderson this season.
Meanwhile, Warrior goalie Taylor Turner (10 saves) kept turning back Shanahan.
Shanahan head coach Kacy Small said, “[Turner] kept making great saves, and we had trouble finishing early in the game. By the time we came back, it was too little, too late.”
Henderson head coach Lauren Purvis said, “Taylor’s been stepping up for us, she’s really been working hard every single day. Last year she was on JV, and I knew she’d be an excellent starter for us this year. She’s made some great saves, and has been doing a great job getting the ball upfield too.”
Henderson went into halftime with a 5-2 lead, then ran off a string of three consecutive goals (two from senior Shannon Earley, one from Siskind) in a two-minute span early in the second half to increase the visitors’ lead to 8-3.
Earley also scooped up three ground balls and caused two Shanahan turnovers.
“I thought our defense did a good job, picking up the ground balls, and Shannon did a good job near the goal, really using her speed,” said Purvis.
Henderson’s Peighton Bement also had a fine day, scooping up five ground balls, causing three Eagle turnovers, making an interception and winning three draw controls.
“Peighton did a great job today, she works so hard for everyone up and down the field,” said Purvis. “From attack to defense, we really played together today.”
Midway through the second half, Shanahan gave the home crowd something to cheer about when the hosts ran off a streak of three straight goals, by junior Jess Holowsko, sophomore Monica Manley (who also won 12 draw controls Thursday) and then senior co-captain Kaela Smith after a long run to the goal. With 7:16 left, Shanahan cut Henderson’s lead to 8-6.
Siskind said, “Even when we went ahead [8-3] in the second half, we knew we couldn’t let up, we knew they could come back. Taylor made some huge saves, and our attack worked well, we clicked together.”
Purvis said, “We’ve been focusing a lot this season on playing the full 50 minutes, not letting the score affect how we play. You can never be upset [with yourself] after a game if you’ve worked hard the entire time, and there were a lot of highs and lows in the game today. In the second half, when Shanahan kept coming back, we kept our cool, and played some good defensive schemes.”
With 5:50 left, Bauer completed her hat trick, scoring to give the visitors some breathing room and a 9-6 lead.
Small said, “Every time we made a minor [scoring] run, Henderson would answer right back.”
Three days earlier, Shanahan defeated Boyertown 9-7 in what Small said was one of the Eagles’ two best games of the season so far. In that win, the Eagles were led by Holowsko (three goals, two assists) and Manley (two goals, two assists, seven draw controls), while Shanahan goalie Jess Gorr (eight saves) kept Boyertown at bay. Shanahan led at halftime 7-1.
“In our victories, we’ve been getting off to a good start, but Henderson didn’t let us do that today,” said Small. I’ve seen several of Henderson’s games this season, and they’ve been playing good ball.”

West Chester Henderson 9, Bishop Shanahan 7
West Chester Henderson 5 4 – 9
Bishop Shanahan               2 5 – 7
West Chester Henderson goals: Siskind 3, Bauer 3, Earley 2, Reuther.
Bishop Shanahan goals: Smith 2, Holowsko 2, French, Manley 2.
Goalie saves: Turner (WCH) 10, Gorr (BS) 8.