Great Valley erases three-goal deficit, edges Bishop Shanahan in second overtime

DOWNINGTOWN >> It might have been only the second game of the year for the Great Valley High School girls lacrosse team, but the resilience they showed was worthy of a late season performance.
Kaitlyn Giandonato capped a five-goal afternoon by scoring in the second overtime as the Patriots overcame a three-goal, second-half deficit to edge Bishop Shanahan, 8-7, in a Ches-Mont League contest on a sunny but cool Thursday at Jack Mancini Stadium.
“I’m proud of them,” said Great Valley coach Kim Wenger. “This is only our second game. They showed a lot of stuff. I’m proud of them for coming out of a hole. Defense played solid and strong the whole game, I thought. Our attack was executing our game plan the best (we) could.”
The game was tied 7-7 heading into the first three-minute extra session. Shanahan won the draw and took control. They worked the ball around looking for a good shot. They ended up getting a foul call that resulted in a free position shot for Caitlyn Hubiak, but her effort was stopped by goalie Sydney Manning and the first overtime ended still tied.
The Patriots (1-0 Ches-Mont, 2-0 overall) got a chance after the Eagles were called for a violation. They got a chance when Giandonato was given a three-meter free position. Her first attempt was stopped by Allie Hathaway, but shortly thereafter, a foul gave Giandonato another chance with 1:48 to play. This time, she made no mistake as she buried the shot to give the Pats the thrilling come-from-behind victory.
“I missed the first one, so I had a better option in the middle,” said Giandonato. “I just acted like it’s another free position and it wasn’t anything special, so mind clear.”

A challenging early schedule and breaking in new players in the lineup has Bishop Shanahan, the defending league and district champions, off to a slow start at 1-4. But, Eagles coach Kacy Small knows that early season struggles could bring benefits when it comes postseason time.
“We’re definitely working through things. They are working forward,” he said. “We just had a big turnover from last year to this year. Putting some people in dffernt spots, trying out some different things. The message is it’s not how you start. We’ll get this rolling for sure.”
Shanahan started the second half with a quick goal from Silvia Baptista, her second of the game, for a 6-3 lead and seemingly a firm grasp on matters.
However, Great Valley mounted a comeback. Giandonato scored twice in a two-minute span to cut the lead to 6-5. Giandonato then notched her third straight to tie the game with 16:28 left.
Following a turnover, Noelle Albanese recorded her third goal of the contest to give the Patriots a 7-6 lead, their first since early in the first half.
Claire Fader fired a bullet with 11:29 left to knot the score at 7-7. It stayed that way when, with 2:43 left, Great Valley was awarded a man-up situation. Instead of pressing the advantage, the Pats passed the ball around waiting for a last shot opportunity.
That came in the dying seconds of regulation, but Hathaway stopped Giandonato as the buzzer sounded.
“We just had some failed clears at the wrong time,” said Small. “A couple of extra opportunities and they took advantage when they got those opportunities. They had some extra possessions that clearly cost us. In a crazy way, we felt we dominated in some ways. We got the draws and we were on offense a whole bunch.”
Baptista and Fader recorded two goals each for the Eagles. Hubiak, Carly McCullough and Stella D’Ambro had single tallies apiece.
Shanahan gets right back into action today with a nonleague game against Gwynedd Mercy. Great Valley goes on the road at Haverford on Saturday.

Great Valley 8, Bishop Shanahan 7, (2OT)
Great Valley 3 4 0 1 — 8
Bishop Shanahan 5 2 0 0 — 7
Great Valley goals: Giandonato 5, Albanese 3,
Bishop Shanahan goals: Baptista 2, Fader 2, McCullough, Hubiak, D’Ambro,
Goalie Saves: Manning (GV) 6; Hathaway (BS) 5.