District 1 Class 3A Girls Lacrosse: Garnet Valley’s dual Mias twice as tough against Henderson

CONCORD – Garnet Valley girls lacrosse coach Jenny Dooley isn’t sure what the school record is for goals in a playoff game. That’s something she has to research, she said.

When Dooley does find out, don’t be surprised if Tuesday’s 23-6 romp over Henderson in the opening round of the District 1 Class 3A tournament is at the top of the list.

Much of that damage was done by the two Mias, Zebley and Raucci. The pair combined for 11 goals to send the 14th-seeded Jaguars (12-6-1) into Thursday’s second round at third-seeded Conestoga (15-3).

“They’re the best,” Dooley said.

Zebley, a senior, led the attack with six goals, three in each half. Raucci, a junior, scored five times to help the Jaguars extend their winning streak to four games.

“We’ve been playing together for a while now, since elementary school, so just knowing each other’s tendencies makes us work well together,” Raucci said.

That on-the-field relationship was noticeable throughout the contest. Zebley scored two of Garnet Valley’s first three goals. Raucci tallied three times in four-minute span a little later in the first half to help the Jags open up a 10-1 lead.

“I think we do a really good job of keeping our heads up, just driving and seeing where each other are,” Zebley said. “I think a lot of times we know where the other person wants to drive from and where to cut so just having that in the back of our mind when we’re going helps to see each other.”

It was Zebley who took control after the 19th-seeded Warriors (10-8) scored five straight goals, four at the end of the first half and one to start the second half, to cut Garnet Valley’s lead to 10-6. Zebley scored twice in a 1:47 span to push the lead back to six.

“We got a little out of our game and it took us a few minutes to regroup,” Zebley said. “We had to make some adjustments and start something up again and get on a run.”

From that point on it was all Garnet Valley as the Jaguars scored the last 17 goals to turn the game into a rout.

“We really thought we had the chance to come back and we let up a little bit,” said sophomore Kendall Brandon, who scored twice for the Warriors. “Garnet Valley’s a great team with really strong players and I think we didn’t match their intensity. Like my coach said, we’re a really young team and I don’t think we haven’t had this type of competition at all this season, so we really didn’t adjust to it. But for what it’s worth in the first half, we really killed it.”

Garnet Valley’s transition game proved to be too much for the Warriors. The Jaguars went from defense to offense in a flash and that ability to get the ball up the field paid off for a number of players. Senior DeDe Schmittlein, Maddie Shoemaker and sophomore Sammy Wood added three goals each.

“That’s something we’ve been working on, getting turnovers and turning it into offensive opportunities,” Dooley said. “I thought we did a good job of that today.”

The defense did its part, too. The Jaguars smothered the Warriors in the offensive zone and when Henderson did get a shot on goal, senior Kate Sharp was there to keep the ball out of the net with seven saves.

“There were moments of really nice play by Henderson but we made the adjustments we needed to, especially in the second half when it got a little close,” Dooley said. “Our defenders slid, they hedged and did a really nice job of getting to the double team, which made it really hard for Henderson. Our defense played outstanding today.”

While it was a disappointing end for Henderson, head coach Emily Eckley was happy with the effort by a young team with five freshmen and three sophomores in the starting lineup that was making its first playoff appearance since 2018.

“We made a good run in the first half there,” Eckley said. “They had to call a timeout and regroup. We went out in the second half and started to lose it. They went on a run. They’re a great team. They’re very good at moving the ball fast.

“I think they capitalized on the opportunities they had and we didn’t capitalize on the opportunities we had. That’s the way it works in lacrosse. The turnovers killed us.”