McNeal puts champion Garnet Valley in passing lane

WEST CHESTER >> As the Garnet Valley High girls lacrosse team was moving toward the District 1 Class AAA championship round, Kamryn McNeal noticed one thing and remembered another. It was when she comprehended the value of both that the Jaguars were able Thursday to win a championship.

“It was the last couple of games,” McNeal said. “My shots weren’t working too well. I took a couple of shots and they weren’t working out. So I just decided that I should pull it out and just look for the open cutter. And it seemed to be working.”

So, McNeal did Thursday. Once. Then again. Then again, and again, and again. Five times, the senior attack fed Jags teammates for goals, the most consistent barrage of assists, she recalled, in her lacrosse career. So it was that without scoring a goal, she was the difference in a 13-9 victory at neutral-site West Chester Henderson, good for the trophy.

“Our team is very unselfish,” McNeal said. “We love to move the ball around and work to make our teammates look better. So it was just the whole mentality we have, of working together and being unselfish. We have a motto: ‘P-T-W-T.’ Play together, win together. It was something our seniors, or maybe even before that, started. We’ve used it since I was a freshman. So it is pretty special.”

And Thursday, it quickly became necessary for the Jags, who were behind, 3-0, within the first 11:37 … and reminded in a hurry that they lost to Springfield in the last district final.

Together, they would avoid panic.

Together, they would recover.

“It happened to us the last game, the same way,” McNeal said, of the semifinal victory over Perkiomen Valley. “We started out behind, 3-0. We called a timeout and sat there and talked about what needed to be done to accomplish this.”

Thursday, the Jags had one consistent solution: Find Madi McKee. That, they did, and McKee responded with five goals, four in a span of seven unanswered Garnet Valley first-half goals. McKee’s burst helped stake Garnet Valley to an 8-4 lead at the break … and to a 9-4 edge 17 seconds into the second half.

Springfield, renowned for its determination, responded as would be expected and pulled within 10-8 on the third of four Dana Carlson goals with 7:37 to play.

“We came back the last time we played them, too,” said Cougars’ coach Keith Broome, of Garnet Valley’s 10-8 regular-season victory. Given the history of Central League success in state tournaments, Springfield could have that opportunity one more time. “Well, we’ll find out,” he said. “We’ll find out. I’d like to get to the state championship. I don’t care who we play. I just want to get to the state championship.”

If the rematch occurs, Broome knows the Cougars must improve on draws, particularly when they involve McKee, who he’d seen win 13 Thursday.

“The draw controls a lot of the game,” McKee said. “And in the beginning, we weren’t winning some of them. So we changed up the draw. I talked to my girls in a circle and once we all got in the rhythm of things, we got the draw and we went down and were attacking. We slowed the ball down and we worked for a really nice shot. And since it started from a really nice draw, it flowed nicer, too.”

That much, McNeal ensured, completing accurate passes, often while being jostled in a physical game.

“Kamryn McNeal is a phenomenal athlete,” said McKee, who twice scored from McNeal feeds. “Being able to play with her, it is amazing. I know that she can see anyone on the field. She has such a good vision of the field, where you are cutting, where you are moving, when to pass. And just being able to play with her makes the game easier.”

Regan Nealon scored three goals, Riley Delaney and Kathryn Toohey added two apiece, and Camryn Faith had one as Garnet Valley improved to 19-2. Kara Nealon contributed two assists, and Toohey and McKee had one each.

Isabelle Mastropietro scored twice, and Julia Schickling, Erin Gormley and Olivia Pace had a goal each for 18-4 Springfield. Mastropietro and Olivia Little had two assists apiece.

Both goalies, Aiden Gallagher for Springfield and Sam Hamalak for the Jags, made critical second-half saves to maintain the drama. The PIAA tournament begins Tuesday.

“This is just huge for us,” said McKee, after a happy, on-field championship celebration. “Coming into this season, we all focused on what was next. We weren’t thinking that we wanted to win states. We were thinking, ‘We want this game, then we want districts.’ And this whole week we just focused on wanting this game. And that allowed us to get far this season.”

One unselfish play, and player, at a time.