Games, Smith get Radnor offense on track

RIDLEY TWP. >> For seven games, Radnor High’s girls lacrosse team relied on a solid defense while it struggled to score goals.

Radnor did things differently at Ridley High’s Phil Marion Field Tuesday afternoon, handing the host Green Raiders their first loss of the season, 23-13.

Senior Emily Games and junior Hope Smith scored six goals, Fallon Quinn chipped in with four goals — all in the first half — and Katie Quinn added three goals and three assists for Radnor (5-3 overall, 2-1 Central League).

Ridley (5-1, 2-1) got seven goals and two assists from Emily Johnston, three goals from Brooke Nasella, and a pair of goals and four assists from Desi George.

“People were asking if we held the ball when they saw the score of our Abington game,” Radnor coach Brooke Fritz said of her team’s 4-2 victory Friday.

“We have been struggling finishing, but I was happy with our shooting percentage today. Our defense has been so solid, but they just didn’t look comfortable out there today. We just don’t have the kind of depth we’ve had in other years.”

Ridley, which got its season off to a good start under first-year head coach Jill Davis, gave up six of the last seven goals of the first half and fell behind, 13-6, at intermission.

The Green Raiders opened the second half by outscoring Radnor, 3-1, in the first four minutes. A goal by George cut the Green Raiders’ deficit to three goals with 14 minutes to play, but the Raiders finished the home team off with an 8-1 closing run.

“We worked a lot on our shooting at practice” Monday, Games said. “Today I think we were getting open, hitting the open girl and shooting better.”

Fallon Quinn, who will play at Columbia next spring, talked about the importance of draw controls. Radnor’s Julianne Puckette, who had been strong in the circle on draws, was lost to injury and the job fell to some teammates for the first time.

The Raiders also were implementing new offensive strategies as they tried to bounce back from their lone Central League loss at Garnet Valley last week

“We were running a lot and keeping the ball from them because of how strong an offensive team that they have,” Fallon Quinn said of the way her team played against the defending state champion Jaguars last week. “We needed to try to tire them out.

“Today we wanted to be stronger offensively. We know we can rely on our defense.”

Dav

is, who 10 years ago was an All-Delco player at Ridley, saw some things to be pleased with and some things to be disappointed in as she pondered her first loss.

“Our attack did a great job scoring that many goals against a team like Radnor,” Davis said. “They were working well together and have bought into the new things we’ve had for them this year.

“We know there’s a lot of things we have to work on with our defense. We’ll keep working hard every day at practice and try to get back to winning when we play Penncrest Thursday.”

Radnor faces another big Central League challenge Thursday when it hosts defending champion Conestoga, which defeated Harriton, 11-6, Tuesday.

In other Central League action:

Springfield 15, Penncrest 5 >> Cailyn Gormley, Bailey O’Brien and Maggie O’Connell combined for 12 of the Cougars’ 15 goals in a definitive victory over the Lions. Bridget Whitaker also had a goal and three assists for Springfield (6-1, 2-1) while Kayla Allen and Grace Harding both posted a goal and an assist for Penncrest.

Garnet Valley 21, Haverford 15 >>The Jaguars outlasted the Fords behind Emily Mathewson’s five-goal, three-assist game. Lydia Hetznecker and Laura Winters with four goals each to help the Fords keep pace but Lauren Kinnee’s 16 saves were just enough to claim the win for Garnet Valley.

Lower Merion 19, Upper Darby 2 >>The only bright spot for the Royals (0-5, 0-3) came from Ali Cucinotta with two goals as they were routed by Lower Merion. The Aces’ Danielle Geis scored five goals on Mallory Perry, who had eight saves in the loss.

Conestoga 11, Harriton 6 >> Hannah Ashton had four goals and an assist, and Paige Loose and Liz Scott had two goals and an assist each as Conestoga (4-0) remained undefeated.

In the Catholic League:

Archbishop Wood 15, Cardinal O’Hara 7 >> Behind a four-goal game from Bridget Neily and a four-goal, three-assist performance by Brenna Lynch, the Vikings pulled away from the Lions with seven goals in the second half.

Erin Grady, Meghan Shallow and Anna DiRita all scored two goals each, and Marie Noon had an impressive 16 saves for Cardinal O’Hara (4-3, 3-1).

In the Inter-Ac League:

Episcopal Academy 18, Springside Chestnut Hill Academy 6 >> Katie Crager and Julia Hondros both scored four goals apiece as the Churchwomen (10-1, 2-0) continued their impressive start to the season. Olivia Cunningham contributed three goals and an assist, while Sydney Gagnon notched 10 saves in net.

Academy of Notre Dame 16, Baldwin 9 >> Caroline Allen‘s four-goal, two-assist game was one of several strong performances in the Fightin’ Irish’s victory. Mackenzie Irvin also had four goals and Madison Chermol had three goals and three assists for Notre Dame.

In nonleague action:

Phoenixville 20, Interboro 9 >> The Buccaneers trailed 11-6 at halftime and were never able to mount a comeback as they suffered their first loss of the year. Hailey Fisher had three goals and two assists, and Karleigh Kennedy had three goals and an assist to lead Interboro (5-1, 3-0).

Agnes Irwin 16, Manheim Township 6 >> Lila Barker put on a dominating performance with six goals as Agnes Irwin (5-4, 1-1) never trailed on their way to a nonleague victory. The Pansini sisters Natalie (three goals), Laura (two goals, four assists) and Maria (two goals) all made contributions in the win.