Abington thrives in second half to top Upper Dublin, earn share of SOL American title

ABINGTON >> The senior class of the Abington girls lacrosse team has been pretty successful together.

Most of them played on the same club team as eighth graders when they won a title together and a lot of them were contributors as sophomores when the Ghosts won the 2017 SOL American title. Entering the final week of the regular season, they had a chance to win another one together.

It required a rally led by those seniors, but the Ghosts turned in a dominant second half as they knocked off Upper Dublin 15-9 Monday afternoon to clinch at least a share of the conference title.

“We started flat in the first half but we talked about what we had to do and that the seniors had to show up,” Ghosts senior attacker Jamira Mashore said. “I think we really did that as a team.”

All but two Abington (14-2, 8-0 SOL American) goals were scored by a senior, senior goalie Ellie Hughes made five saves at big times and a majority of the game’s pivotal ground balls or caused turnovers came at the hands of an Abington senior. With 13 of them on the roster, it’s not a surprise but that didn’t mean it was a perfect 50 minutes of lacrosse.

Senior Abby Thomas, who led all scorers with seven goals, scored three in the first five minutes of the game to stake the hosts to a 3-0 lead. She added a fourth to make it 4-2 with 9:33 left in the opening frame but the Cardinals (10-5, 5-3 SOL American) and Julia Reardon had worked back into the game.

Reardon scored four of her team-best five goals in the first half and added an assist on another as UD went on a 5-1 run after Thomas’ fourth goal to take a 7-5 lead to halftime.

“We played our hearts out in the first half and maybe we played over our heads but to be up two was great,” UD coach Dee Cross said. “We don’t have the same kind of depth, (Abington) can sub players on and off. We never gave up but Abington is just a really strong team and everything they did, you could tell they did 100 percent.”

Mashore, who had two assists in the first half, started off the second with a goal and was far from done for the day. Upper Dublin went up 8-6 with 21:11 left when a pass by Jenn McCarry deflected off Becky Browndorf’s stick and into Reardon’s, letting the attacker finish her fifth tally of the game.

Abington came right back when senior Kaley Ehnow, who had a good battle on the draw control circle with UD’s Jackie Rama all game, scored off a terrific feed from Mashore behind the net. With her teammates then unable to get open, Mashore took matters into her own hands and tied the game 8-8 on a rip with 16:01 left.

 The senior went on to post three goals and a game-best six assists, fittingly finding Thomas for the go-ahead strike with 14:08 remaining in the second half.

“We had a lot of success running stacks with Jam and Abby (Johnson) behind the net,” Thomas said. “I don’t want to say they were slow to communicate, I think we did a good job of finding holes and cutting through.”

“Their goalie liked to pop out early, so I had to watch out for that,” Mashore, who was surprised to learn she had six assists said. “My cutters just did a good job staying in front of the defender and keeping their sticks clear. They made it easy.”

Hughes made a pivotal stop to keep her team up a goal and the Ghosts responded with three more goals, the last an Ehnow pass to Mashore, that gave Abington a 12-8 lead with 7:29 left. Abington’s defense allowed just one goal over the final 21 minutes of regulation and the Ghosts scored nine of the game’s final 10 goals.

Abington’s senior-laden defensive unit made sure UD didn’t snap the offense’s momentum, both locking down the Cardinals’ attacking threats and finding ways to get the ball back at key junctures. Senior Jill Poppert, who had two caused turnovers and a ground ball, said it was a matter of playing as a unit.

“At halftime it set in this was probably the last time we’ll play Upper Dublin and that made it real,” Poppert said. “So we went out there and showed up and really played to win. We wanted it, we started communicating more and played for each other.”

Upper Dublin again played without its top scorer in junior Mack Moore and her absence certainly helped Abington’s defenders. Browndorf had four assists, but the senior only had one goal and the Ghosts limited Jenn McCarry to just one goal and Rama to a pair of goals and no assists between them.

The Cardinals entered the day seeded No. 13 in District 1-3A and finish with road games at Quakertown and at West Chester East. Cross said she wants her team to finish out with two good performances and hopes it’ll be enough to get them a first-round home game.

A win by Souderton over Upper Moreland on Monday night would give Abington the outright title but the Ghosts can also take care of it themselves if they beat Wissahickon on Wednesday. The Ghosts then finish with a home game against Radnor on Friday as they try to also lock up a first-round District 1-3A playoff bye.

The seniors haven’t made states yet and they see that as the perfect ending to their last season playing together. For the seniors who played Monday, the win was also one they wanted for injured co-captains Becca Gable and Lauren Van Buren, who had been as big a part of the group’s success as anyone despite spending most of the year on the sidelines.

“It shows how long we’ve played together and how much we want it,” Poppert said. “Our AGLC team won in eighth grade so it’s good to keep that momentum of winning going.”

“Becca and Lauren have been our biggest cheerleaders,” Thomas said. “We’re doing it as much for them as anything.”

ABINGTON 15, UPPER DUBLIN 9
UPPER DUBLIN 7 2 – 9
ABINGTON 5 10 – 15
Goals-Assists: A – Abby Thomas 7-0, Jamira Mashore 3-6, Kaley Ehnow 3-2, Abby Johnson 1-0, Kelly McCallister 1-0; UD – Julia Reardon 5-1, Jackie Rama 2-0, Becky Browndorf 1-4, Jenn McCarry 1-0. Shots: A – 20, UD – 14. Saves: A – Ellie Hughes 5, UD – Riley Brady 6.