Abington on point, takes care of Mount St. Joseph
ABINGTON — Two things have remained a trend for te Abington girls lacrosse so far this season.
The first is the Ghosts’ ability to rack up big wins within the Suburban One League American Conference as well as outside it.
The second is the Ghosts getting into high-scoring games. And with the exception of their only loss against Souderton — a 20-15 — that has for the most part come out as a winning formula.
Monday afternoon against another quality non-league opponent in Mount St. Joseph, Abington used an efficient offense in the first half to hold off the Magic for a 14-10 win.
“It’s all about the draw. It always is,” Abington coach Mary Kate Lomady said.
The first half was played just about evenly. At the half, both teams registered 11 shots apiece at the opponents cage, Abington had one more groundball pick up, one fewer turnover and one less draw control. The big difference was Abington scored eight times on its 11 shots where MSJ scored only twice, thanks in large part to a terrific effort from Abington goalie Micaela Murcar, who finished with a total of nine big saves on the day.
“At halftime both teams had 11 shots so we were even on opportunities,” Lomady said. “The reason we had (more) goals than them is because our shooting was on point today and because our goalie Micaela, she was stepping up huge.”
Once the Magic got some more possession in the second half, their offensive flow started to come. A combination of Kaitlyn Meister, Mary Kathrine Maloney and Amanda Steinberg jump-started the Magic offense, the trio combining for six goals. MSJ scored the first three goals of the second half on a lengthy man-up situation which cut the Abington lead to 8-5.
“Usually when we get a possession or two it’s a nice momentum changer,” MSJ coach Lindsey Colferai said. “Everyone reacts nicely to it, we just weren’t all on the same page today.”
In the end, the Abington offense was too much as Jeanie Van Buren and Casey McAllister combined for seven goals and Sam McGee chipped in with two goals and five assists. McGee setting up McAllister and Van Buren along with other Ghosts scorers has proved to be a sustainable offensive formula for the Ghosts all season.
“It works, but it’s not every game,” Lomady said. “Often times we’ll have different players step up on different days. It really is pretty balanced.”
After dropping a tough and emotional league game on Sunday against Gwynedd Mercy, Mount St. Joseph now finds itself on a two-game skid. But the Magic are sure to take a valuable lesson from playing a dynamic Ghost team.
