Avon Grove girls’ lacrosse squad scores early to beat Sun Valley

Aston >> Scoring at a speedy goal-per-minute pace for the first 12 minutes, Avon Grove rolled to a 21-8 girls’ lacrosse victory at Sun Valley Thursday.
The win improved the Red Devils’ record to 2-1, but Avon Grove head coach Lee Krug sees the need for further improvement.
“At times, we played well and made good decisions; we’re just not consistent yet,” said Krug. “That’s one thing we need to work on, and we have been working on, so hopefully we’ll get better with consistent play. You saw some outstanding plays today, but also some mistakes.”
Avon Grove senior co-captain Lauren Kretzing and junior Ashley Jones combined for seven draw controls to aid the Red Devils’ attack. By halftime, Avon Grove led, 16-4.
“Lauren did a really great job at getting the draw today when we needed it,” said Krug. “We’ve been playing her at center so she would take the draw, but today we switched it around a little bit and put her on the circle, and I think she actually does a better job there. Ashley started taking the draw and did a really nice job also.”
Kretzing, who also collected seven ground balls, said, “I think our teamwork right after each draw really helped us out today.”
Jones said, “Between Lauren and me – three years of playing together – we know how each other plays, and that helped a lot today. Another girl on the draw with us, Kaelin Salley, is a third-year player too, so that experience helps.”
Avon Grove opened its season with a 22-8 win against Marple Newtown March 22, then lost to Spring-Ford 20-12 Tuesday.
“I think the key today in the first half was just believing on ourselves,” said Jones. “Against Spring-Ford, we were ahead of them 9-7 in the first half, so we went out there in the first half the same way today, focused on our goal.”
Jones, senior Emma Lytle (who has been the team’s leading scorer to date) and Gillian Kliemaszewski each had a hat trick. Delaney Ashworth scored five goals. Caroline Malone dished out five assists and scored two goals. Sophia Omar (in her first start), Abby Haines, Hannah Johnson, Grace Trautman and Isabelle Huller each scored one goal.
Avon Grove is a young team with only two seniors, Kretzing and Lytle.
Kretzing said, “One of our goals this year is to at least break .500. Last year, we were 8-10, so we want to switch it around and go [at least] 10-8. And another big goal of ours is to go to playoffs [smiles].”
For Sun Valley (1-1), Thursday’s loss followed a 19-5 win against Academy Park March 22. Vanguard freshman Aliceia Whitfield, who had a hat trick in the Academy Park win, tallied four goals Thursday and won six draw controls.
“Aliceia has a ton of speed, she’s really good at the draw control, and she’s good at transitions and getting the ball upfield so we can make something happen on attack,” said Sun Valley’s first-year head coach Christine Soring.
Abby Seasock, who scored seven goals against Academy Park, chipped in with a couple of goals Thursday.
Soring, a 2007 Sun Valley High School graduate and a 2011 West Chester University grad, saw some encouraging signs in Thursday’s game.
“Late in the first half, when we realized our zone defense wasn’t working anymore, we switched to man defense,” said Soring. “The girls decided to switch to man, and we kept Avon Grove scoreless for the last 10 minutes of the game.”
Soring praised defenders Kyra Green, Riley Price, Amanda Tiger and Gianna Ellis, and noted, “I think our whole defense worked well together in the second half.
“Our transitions were better in the second half. We’re working on our transitions; instead of just having the girls run the ball up the field, we’re working on being a team collectively.”

Avon Grove 21, Sun Valley 8
Avon Grove 16 5 – 21
Sun Valley    4  4 – 8
Avon Grove goals: Jones 4, Ashworth 4, Lytle 3, Kliemaszewski 3, Malone 2, Omar, Haines, Johnson, Trautman, Huller.
Sun Valley goals: Whitfield 4, Seasock 2, Komorowski, Carotenuto.
Goalie saves: Avon Grove – Lanahan 3, Jaskowiak 2; Sun Valley – Grant 11.