Late save helps Great Valley edge Rustin
WESTTOWN >> With time winding down and the Great Valley girls lacrosse team nursing a slim lead, West Chester Rustin had what they felt was a dream scenario — Elizabeth McGurk with an open, point blank look, but goalie Sydney Manning flashed her right leg and the ball was kicked away. She raced out to control the loose ball as the horn sounded and the Patriots celebrated a 6-5 victory in a key Ches-Mont League American Division contest Tuesday evening.
“Tracked the ball, tried to get a piece of it and came out to get the ground ball,” said Manning. “Tough saves, but I made them. This is awesome. Rustin has always been a tough competitor for us, This is such a huge, huge win for us.”
“She had the shot she wanted,” Rustin coach Sarah Kropp said of McGurk’s effort. “I think that goalie is an awesome goalie. She made a lot of unbelievable saves. Kudos to her. She was great.”
The Patriots (2-0-1 Ches-Mont American, 4-1-1 overall) held a 5-3 lead at halftime. They held a decisive edge in possession in the second 25 minutes. At one point, they held the ball in Rustin’s end for over four minutes, but couldn’t push one past Rustin goalie Ava Panetta.
“I was happy with possessions and patience,” said Great Valley coach Kim Wenger. “If you have the ball, you have to make the best of the possession. Not the happiest with that. Happy with the possession time, but we have to convert.”
After getting to full strength after being a man down, the Golden Knights (3-1, 4-4) took advantage of a turnover and dashed off on a fast break. Sophomore Isabelle Mintz took a pass from Kaylee Vanvladricken and fired it past Manning to cut the the lead to 5-4.
Both teams had a couple of empty trips each, before Great Valley regained the vital two-goal lead with 3:30 left.
Rustin got it back to a one-goal deficit as McGurk worked her way past the defense and scored with 2:11 to play to set up the exciting finish.
The Patriots earned their lead in the first half as Cameron Palmer scored twice. The Patriots scored four in a row after Jordyn Krafchick opened the scoring for Rustin.
Kaitlyn Giandonato tallied to make it 4-1 late in the half and gave her a milestone. The goal was the 200th of her career and coming against Rustin, provided extra meaning for Giandonato.
“I was injured last year and this was the game I got hurt in last year, so it was definitely a full circle moment,” said Giandonato. “It’s definitely special. It means a little more.”
Three players had two goals each for the Patriots — Giandonato, Palmer and Noelle Albanese.
“It’s a good win,” added Wenger. “It was a hard fought win and it was a good experience to have. I thought our D showed defense they haven’t shown on a consistent basis. I was happy with our defense. They had to win the game instead of just finish it out. And they did.”
Mintz was the only player with multiple goals for the Golden Knights.
“I thought it was an awesome high school lacrosse game,” said Kropp. “Our team showed a lot of heart. We gave them a good game, but couldn’t come out on the right end.
“Overall, I’m happy with our performance, we just have to clean up the yellow cards and we have to clean up the turnovers.”
Great Valley 6, WC Rustin 5
Great Valley 5 1 — 6
WC Rustin 3 2 — 5
Great Valley goals: Palmer 2, Albanese 2, Giandonato 2.
Wc Rustin goals: McGurk, Mintz 2, Vanvladricken, Krafchick.
Goalie Saves: Manning (GV) 14; Panetta (WCR) 10.
