HAVERFORD TOWNSHIP >> She didn’t feel like she was the hero, but don’t tell that to Gillian Greco’s teammates and the Bishop Shanahan girls lacrosse team fans.
Greco broke a tie with a little under seven minutes left, then recorded a crucial steal late in the fourth quarter to give fourth-seeded Shanahan a 10-8 victory over No. 3 Villa Maria in the District 1 Class 2A championship game at AC Cornog Field at Haverford High School on Wednesday.
“It feels good, but I couldn’t have done it without my girls by my side,” said Greco. “We did it together.
Shanahan (15-7) survived a weather delay of over 30 minutes to capture its third district title in the last four years, joining championships won in 2021 and 2022.
“It feels so amazing,” said junior Stella D’Ambro. “Coming off not winning last year and just being able to keep going the whole entire time and lock down and win, it feels so amazing.”
The game was delayed with 41.9 seconds left in the third quarter tied at 7-7. When they resumed, Shanahan had an opportunity but couldn’t capitalize. Villa ran the last few seconds out to send it deadlocked heading into the fourth.
“We just had a good time together,” D’Ambro said on how they waited out the delay. “We listened to music, we bonded. Moments like that help us stay connected, We could have come out flat, but we stuck through it.”
It took three minutes for that tie to be broken, Fiona Duncheskie cut in between two defenders and buried a shot to make it 8-7 for her third goal of the evening.
Villa quickly got the equalizer as Alexa Dougherty took a pass from point-blank range and scored.
But, it was to be the last time the game was to be tied. Greco snuck through two Villa defenders and beat goalie Quinn Hechler to make it 9-8 with 6:59 left.
“We set that one up. We all have been working on plays like that,” said Greco.
Clinging to that one-goal lead, the Eagles got the all-important insurance goal as Duncheskie corralled a pass from Greco to the right of the net and scored with 2:15 to go for a 10-8 advantage.
Villa tried to make a push to cut the deficit after winning the ensuing draw. They tried to work it in the middle, but Greco intercepted a pass with 1:50 left. Shanahan ran out the clock and celebrated the title.
Despite having points where coach Kacy Small was not entirely happy with their play, the Eagles have caught fire, winning seven in a row.
“Just playing as a team and playing together,” said Greco. “Being there for each other, sharing the ball and those little hustle plays counted and they paid off for everyone.”
“This was awesome,” added Small. “Maybe because we had that four-game losing streak in the middle. Everyone on the outside wrote us off. The girls had a decision to make, are we going to pick ourselves up and finish the season strong. Our defense has really been our rock and they were again today. We leaned on our experience.”
Shanahan jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first before the Hurricanes used goals from Kayla Cellucci and Elle Toto to cut the deficit to 4-3.
Greco tallied twice late in the second to send Shanahan into the halftime break with a 7-5 advantage.
Villa recorded the lone two goals in the third to tie the score before the storms came.
Shanahan now goes into the PIAA Tournament as the top seed from District 1 and will face Hershey from District 3 on Tuesday. Villa will take on District 11 champion Southern Lehigh.
Bishop Shanahan 10, Villa Maria 8
Bishop Shanahan 4 3 0 3 — 10
Villa Maria 3 2 2 1 — 8
Bishop Shanahan goals: Duncheskie 4, Greco 3, Pezone, Murray, McGlothlin.
Villa Maria goals: Cellucci 3, Toto 2, Tray, Traynor, Dougherty.
Goalie saves: Sawicki (BS) 0, O’Brien (BS) 2; Hechler (VM) 3.
