PIAA Class 2A Girls Lacrosse: Haven needs ‘cleanup’ work after sweeping past Chartiers Valley
MECHANICSBURG — Strath Haven didn’t play its cleanest game Saturday at Cumberland Valley High School in the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class 2A girls lacrosse tournament, but the Panthers did enough to dispose of Chartiers Valley, 15-9.
The District 1 runners-up advance to the final four of the state playoffs for a second year in a row. The Panthers will play District 3 champion Twin Valley at Methacton High Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
Coach Pigeon Graham would like to see crisper passing and better communication next time out. Though the Colts were never in the game against the Panthers, they were a nuisance in the second half, trimming what had been a comfortable eight-goal Haven lead to five with 10 minutes to go.
If not for a few caused turnovers by Mack Murray and Annie Dignazio, and otherworldly goalkeeping by sophomore Ava Yancey, perhaps the Panthers would’ve been forced to sweat this one out.
“I think it’s just cleaning up everything, you know? Better decision making on our part, better communication on defense and better shot selection on offense,” Graham said. “We’ve got some work to do, for sure. Tuesday’s going to be a totally different level of competition whoever we meet.”
The Panthers do have the best goalie in the Central League at their disposal. Yancey, who was an all-league selection in her first full season as a varsity starter, showed outstanding reflexes in net and limited the damage.
“I knew I had to get right in my head, stay focused and play for my team,” said Yancey, who finished with 12 saves. “Do whatever I can to help us win.”
Yancey has given Graham everything and so much more manning the cage. After losing key starters on the back line to graduation, the Panthers have been a work in progress defensively, but Yancey has been a rock between the pipes.
“I couldn’t be prouder of her and the job she’s done for us,” Graham said. “And you know, she did a good job of kind of biding her time, getting in the games that she could (last season). She put in her work over the summer and she’s just very athletic and very fast and she has her own way of prepping herself and getting ready. You don’t have to worry about her being heavy in the goal, you know, she’s always the same. We all had a slump in the middle of the season, but in the past six or seven games she’s been awesome.”
Speaking of awesome, junior Laura Conner led the Haven attack with five goals before exiting with her second yellow card late in the second half.
Julia Steere produced the first three goals for the Panthers and finished with four tallies and two assists.
Kaitlin Nieczpiel dominated the circle with eight draw controls and added three goals and two assists. Dignazio accumulated two goals and six draw controls.
“We have to hold body and watch our swings. That’s how I got my first yellow card,” Conner said. “And we have to make sure we never give up because any team can come back at any second. We have to play all 50 minutes and we can’t just be a first-half team or a second-half team.
“I do think our offense is so strong. Most of us are juniors and underclassmen. Annie Dignazio and Grace Kelly (one goal) are really strong players and we’ve been playing with each other for so long now. We have really good team chemistry and we just have to keep that going.”
