Shanahan girls lacrosse team shades Kennett in overtime after second-half rally

KENNETT SQUARE >> Playing in its third overtime game of the season, and its third straight one-goal contest, the Bishop Shanahan girls lacrosse team managed its first overtime victory after erasing a halftime deficit.
Amelia Benner scored with 1:08 left in the first overtime as the Eagles completed the comeback for a 15-14 Ches-Mont League win against Kennett on a sunny but breezy Tuesday afternoon at Legacy Field.
“We have talked about this multiple times. We just find ways to get into overtime,” said Shanahan coach Kacy Small. “Finally, our overtime experience just happened to pay off. I told the girls, ‘We’ve lost in overtime, we’ve tied in overtime. We now use those experiences to try and get one in overtime, and luckily, we did.’”
After being down 8-3 after the first 25 minutes, and an impassioned talk from Small, Shanahan outscored the Blue Demons, 11-6 in the second half, including recording six of the last seven goals in regulation to tie the score.
“We were obivously down on ourselves,” said Shanahan’s Amelia Benner. “But, it’s mental toughness just like he (Small) talks about. We hold each other accountable. Realizing what we doing wrong and fixting it together as a team.”
The Eagles got off to a flying start in their comeback attempt, scoring twice on a man up situation thanks to goals by Caitlyn Hubiak and Annabelle Wiedel.
Kennett recovered and built the advantage up to 11-5 with 18:23 left.

“This is probably the best game Kennett has put together,” said Blue Demon coach Lisa Dougherty. “We get in difficulty when we are a man down. So, we had four minutes of yellow card penalty and Shanahan scored five goals during that time. We let them inch and inch, and then, it’s a battle.”
Greta Burns scored while falling down to give Kennett a 13-8 lead with 12:58 to play. Shanahan then went on the vital run. Silvia Baptista started it off a free position. Hubiak followed less than a minute later while shorthanded to make it 13-10.
Ellie Pezone followed nearly five minutes later to cut the deficit to 13-11. Baptista scored her second of the half to get the Eagles to within 13-12.
Substitue goalie Izzy Sawicki kept it that way with a stop on Marissa Herring. The Eagles then came down and tied as Stella D’Ambro received a pass after cutting into a middle and fired it into the net.
Baptista, who had a team-high four goals, put Shanahan in front for the first time since early in the first half as she took a pass by the net on the left side, turned the corner and rifled a shot to make it 14-13 with 1:27 left.
“I was so excited,” said Baptista. “I was really confident in myself because I felt everybody was very supportive. I felt that move was there most of the time, so I just had to rip it.”
Kennett did not fold, however. They recovered as Makayla Kelly corraled a pass and let loose a one-timer into the net with 18 seconds left to send the game into OT.
“They kept being gritty, they kept fighting,” added Dougherty. “They got the draw and put us into overtime.”
Shanahan recovered the draw and worked the ball around until Benner was fouled. She sprinted in before the defense could converge on her and scored past goalie Kaitlyn Snoke to complete the rally.
“I was a little nervous, but I had the trust of the team,” said Benner. “I knew I could shoot or I had the people next to me to pass it to. I felt confident in what we were doing.”
Kennett jumped out in the first half, capitalizing on six first-half turnovers and some lapse defense, and took an 8-3 lead. Kelly had three of her four goals in the first half and Burns added two.
“First half, the girls played phenomenal,” said Dougherty. “The defensive unit was talking, moving their feet, having turnovers. Best defense I ever seen them play. Offense was working together, moving the defenders, finding the open player, getting the space for the shot. Phenomenal first half.”
The Eagles improved to 3-2-1 in the league and 4-5-1 overall. Kennett falls to 3-3 and 6-4.

Bishop Shanahan 15, Kennett 14
Bishop Shanahan 3 11 1 — 15
Kennett 8 6 0 — 14
Bishop Shanahan goals: Baptista 4, Hubiak 3, Wiedel 2, D’Addezio, Benner, D’Ambro 2, Pezone 2.
Kennett goals: Kelly 4, Burns 3, Herring 2, Foester, Simmons 2, Kilgore, Wells.
Goalie saves: Allie Hathaway (BS) 2; Sawicki (BS) 7. Snoke (K) 5.