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BERWYN >> If Tuesday’s District 1 Class 3A girls lacrosse quarterfinal was a movie for Downingtown East, the first quarter would be called Fast Start at Teamer Field. But, the final three quarters was more like Nightmare in Berwyn.
Conestoga took over after a shaky first 12 minutes to assert its dominance and ended up with a comfortable 15-5 victory over the Cougars.
The fourth-seeded Pioneers won for the 16th time in the last 17 games and improved to 16-3. East, the number five seed, fell to 15-5, but can still make states via the playback route.
“I feel like the first quarter was not our strongest, but I feel like that motivated us because we are the better team,” said Conestoga senior midfielder Kiki Liebezeit. “We knew what we needed to do and cleaned it up. Then, we took off from there.”
After trailing, 3-1, after the first quarter, the Pioneers outscored East, 14-2, the rest of the way.
The first quarter had a plethora of turnovers mixed in with the four goals. The two teams combined for eight miscues. Both coaches agreed it was combination of solid defense and nerves.
“We had a little bit of a rocky warmup,” said Conestoga coach Amy Orcutt. “We went in a little tentative. We had nine shots and only scored one goal. I knew eventually our shots would go in, but it was a very rocky start and Downingtown East is an outstanding team.”
“I think it was a combination,” added Downingtown East coach Kathryn Kropp. “There was a lot of mistakes on both ends in the first quarter. It was probably the excitement of the game and in the district quarterfinals and seeing a team we haven’t (played) all year.”
Conestoga looked to get on the board after forcing a turnover, but gave the ball back to the Cougars. East capitalized when Lexi Conte was fouled, then scored on the ensuing free position with 10:13 left.
The Cougars made it 2-0 four minutes later off a shot by Riley Marks.
The Pioneers got on the board as Ellie Wisch cut in between two defenders to score the first of her five goals on the evening.
East made it 3-1 as Ally Kennedy scored from a pass by Sofia Fanelli with less than a minute left in the first quarter.
“I think we came out to a really strong start,” added Kropp. “Our girls were playing smart and they had a lot of energy and they are working really well together.”
Another strong suit in that quarter was the play of goalie Haylie Downey for the Cougars. She stymied the Pioneers with six of her nine saves.
“She is very steady in the cage,” Kropp said of Downey. “She had a great game altogether. She faced a lot of shots and made some great saves. She was great for us.”
In the second quarter, however, the switch flipped. Liebezeit scored from an angle to cut the deficit to one. The tied the game with 3:51 left on a goal from Maddie Pulliam.
Conestoga took control by scoring three times in the last 90 seconds. Wisch got it going by making a power run to the goal and while falling after colliding with a defender to give the Pioneers the lead for good. Liebezeit got her second goal of the quarter just 21 seconds later to make it 5-3.
Carolyn Jones finished the spurt with a goal with 50 seconds left. Overall, Conestoga outscored East, 5-0, in the frame to take a 6-3 lead into the halftime break.
“We talked about shooting and realized that her (Downey) weak spot was high, so I tried to shoot high because she wasn’t moving or faking,” said Wisch. “The passing was good. It was a team effort, it wasn’t just me.”
The onslaught continued in the third quarter as the Pioneers received three goals goals from Wisch, two by Liebezeit and a single tally for Jones.
The Cougars’ scoring drought was ended by Jayne Michaels with 8:44 to go.
The Pioneers will now play the other Downingtown school, top-seeded West, in the semifinals on Thursday at a site and time to be determined.
“It’s going to be a battle,” said Orcutt. “They have a couple of great players we have to slow down. But, if we can play our game, focus on us and not starting slow. It will be a great battle.”
Conestoga 15, Downingtown East 5
Downingtown East 3 0 1 1 — 5
Conestoga 1 5 6 3 — 15
Downingtown East goals: Conte, Michaels, Flynn, Kennedy, Marks.
Conestoga goals: Wisch 5, Liebezeit 4, Brown 2, Jones 2, Preston, Pulliam.
Goalie saves: Downey (DE) 9; Lepore (C) 5.
