RADNOR — Sarah Kelley didn’t take it personally Tuesday night. She just played like she might have.
In their District 1 Class 3A quarterfinal, Garnet Valley devised a defensive scheme to lock off two of Radnor’s attackmen and play 5-on-5 in the attacking third. To start, that meant defensive shadows for Taylor Murphy and Kate Gallagher to deny them the ball.
Kelley was fine with that, burying a first-quarter hat trick. And she was fine with then getting the face-guard in favor of Gallagher, who when freed had two goals and an assist.
That’s the root of Radnor’s success, this season and in a 13-8 victory that sends the district’s second seed to states. No matter who has the ball, there’s trust. It counteracts one of the most valuable parts of a face-guarding defense, the tendency to try and force the ball to covered attackers.
“I feel like our whole attack is super talented that any one of us could get locked off,” Kelley said. “I kind of wanted to come off strong in the first quarter.”
Kelley’s first-quarter goals wouldn’t stand. But the method behind them would. Radnor led 5-1 after one only for Garnet Valley to rattle off six goals in the second, tying the game at 7 at half. Radnor’s defense and depth, though, ultimately checked that momentum.
Kelley led the way with her hat trick. Garyson Buono had two goals and two assists, including two vital markers in the fourth quarter. Riley d’Entremont scored twice to go with an assist. Cara Ruggieri scored twice. Marin Mooney had a goal and an assist.
“We really want to utilize the space,” Kelley said. “(Coach Lis) Zuern has given us a ton of plays to do that, and I think we’re all really strong drives and have a quick first step. So that was a key part of our offense.”
It’s pick your poison against Radnor (18-2). So even though Murphy had just one goal and didn’t touch the ball more than six times before a late time-wasting passing drill, the Raptors didn’t miss a beat.
“I think it worked pretty well,” Garnet Valley’s Sammy Wood said of the defense. “But I think they have so much depth on their team that sometimes if those two girls aren’t hot and the other two are, we make those switches, which we had to do today.”
No. 10 seed Garnet Valley (15-5) ultimately had most of its offensive output confined to the second quarter. The Jaguars picked themselves off the mat with a torrid second quarter powered by Wood. She opened the scoring 90 seconds into it, then delivered bullet passes to Ryann Razzano and Taylor Halloran to tie it up at six.
Ruggieri and Liv Perry, the latter with nine seconds left, traded goals to send the teams to the locker room even.
Gallagher and Murphy scored in the first 68 seconds of the second half to make it 9-7, at which point Arden Jansen took over. The Radnor goalie had six saves, including three in the third quarter. The first, on Halloran, led 12 seconds later to a d’Entremont transition goal to make it 10-8. Jansen stopped Jenny Green on a free position shot down a man with less than five minutes left in the third, then stood tall on Perry’s attempt to sneak one in after a scramble.
“I feel like it just allows me to be able to pressure out because I know Arden will always have my back,” defender Anna Reger said of Jansen. “She’ll make the tough saves even if I get beat and she’s so helpful and so communicative.”
Wood had a goal – a nasty behind-the-back low stinger – three assists and five draw controls to lead GV. Halloran scored twice, as did Green, who added an assist. Reger won her defensive matchup with Mia Raucci, who scored just once. Merrin Mink made four saves for Garnet Valley.
Grace Gordon had eight draw controls for Radnor in addition to limiting Wood defensively.
That Radnor can be so effective even without much from a talent the caliber of Murphy shows just what a daunting matchup the Raptors are.
“It shows the talent we have,” Kelley said, “and how we have so much depth and how each unit of the field is so special.”