Downingtown East stays unbeaten on Marks’ OT goal
UWCHLAN >> Coming into Thursday’s game with Bishop Shanahan, the Downingtown East girls lacrosse team was the only unbeaten in the Ches-Mont League National Division. And despite some anxious moments, and two overtime sessions, it stayed that way.
Riley Marks’ goal in the second overtime capped off a second-half rally to give the Cougars a 10-9 victory over the Eagles.
“I saw the opening. I saw the 2 v.1,” said Marks. “I actually did that exact move in practice. I knew exactly what to do. I cut across and they were going to over pressure me on my right, so I switched to my left and I just shot it and hoped it went in.”
East improved to 5-0 in the National and 6-0 overall. They opened up a two-game lead on Shanahan, Downingtown West and Avon Grove.
“We’ll just going to keep looking at it one game at a time,” sadi first-year East coach Kathryn Kropp. “We have a couple of big games coming up, so we’re just going to keep chipping away. We spend a lot of time on the mental side of the game. We have meetings and we discuss different aspects of the mental game. The girls have really been focused with goals each game.”
For Shanahan (2-2-1, 4-4-1), it was the second time this season they fell in overtime after having a lead in the second half.
“That’s where we are, playing extra minutes. A tough one,” said Shanahan coach Kacy Small.
The Eagles came into the second 25 minutes nursing a slim 5-4 lead, then set about increasing it.
First, they scored moments after the break, thanks to a shot by Amelia Benner. Then, Gillian Greco scored off a free postion to bump the advantage to 7-4.
The Cougars were held off the board for nearly 10 minutes in the second half, but when they did score, they did it in bunches.
Lexie Conte started the comeback by corraling a pass then scoring. Ally Kennedy followed with a free position tally to cut the deficit to 7-6 with 12:27 left.
“Our defense really played out of their minds today,” said Marks. “We really hustled. Then something clicked on offense all of sudden.”
Two minutes later, East tied it as senior Eileen Hewitt raced in off of a free position and bounced in a shot past goalie Allie Hathaway.
“That’s kind of been the thing,” added Small. “We’ve been holding pretty strong for 90 percent of the game. Then there was that little couple of minutes where they had a little run. Couple of sloppy offensive positions, a couple of turnovers and they won a couple of draws, that was huge.”
Shanahan regained the lead before sophomore Jayme Michaels and Cameron Yard dented the net to give East its first lead since the first half, going up 9-8 with 3:36 left.
Claire Fader scored seconds later to send the game into overtime.
Both teams had chances, but a couple of turnovers kept the game scoreless after the first three minute session.
Then, Marks took a feed and beat the defense to fire in the winner to keep the Cougars unbeaten.
“Riley has always been a strong dodger,” added Kropp. “She saw her opportunity and it was a great feed from Bean (Eileen Hewitt) and she always finishes well. It’s a great goal for her.”
Shanahan looks to bounce back on Tuesday at Kennett, while the Cougars will host Great Valley, leaders in the American.
Downingtown East 10, Bishop Shanahan 9
Bishop Shanahan 5 4 0 0 – 9
Downingtown East 4 5 0 1 — 10
Bishop Shanahan goals Pezone 2, Greco 2, Benner, Baptista, D’Ambro, Fader, D’Addezio.
Downingtown East goals: Fannelli 3, Yard 2, Marks, Hewitt, Michaels, Kennedy, Barton.
Goalie saves: Hathaway (BS) 3; Mulhern (DE) 5.
