Girls’ lacrosse: East beats West in last-minute thriller in Downingtown

Downingtown >> With four first-half goals from All-American Tori Barretta, a hustling senior-led defense, and a game-winning 8-meter shot with 11.4 seconds left from sophomore Livi Lawton, Downingtown East edged D-town West, 12-11, at DiSerafino Stadium Thursday.
The victory improved the defending Ches-Mont champion Cougars’ record to 2-3, while the Whippets fell to 1-3 (1-1 Ches-Mont).

“This win gets us back on track,” said East head coach Christa Somits. “It was an all-around team effort, and our seniors really led the way, particularly [D-midfielders] Hannah Wurzel and Elise Person. The two of them were really hustling out there, and setting an example for the rest of the team to follow.”

Lawton’s game-inning tally (her fourth goal of the game) was made possible after Person retrieved a loose ball behind the West goal cage with a minute left. Person worked her way upfield and East controlled the ball until Lawton tallied the game-winner.

“Hustle made the difference today – it’s always a hard game against West,” said Person.

The young Whippets got out to a 4-2 lead in the first 10 minutes of play, getting goals from sophomores Corrine Bednarik, Emily Feeney and Olivia DiGiorgio and junior Katie Hoerman,

But then East turned the tide, starting with a goal from sophomore attack Emily Wurzel, with an assist by her older sister Hannah.

The senior Wurzel, who assisted on two of the Whippets’ first three goals, said, “Teamwork was the key for us today – everyone on our team was hustling.”

Before the first half ended, East got a pair of goals from Lawton, and two unassisted tallies from Barretta in the last three minutes before halftime. Barretta finished with four first-half goals.

Meanwhile, East senior goalie Emily Robinson (six saves for the game) made some nice stops to preserve the Cougars’ 7-6 halftime lead.

Just after halftime, a steady rain began to fall, but that didn’t douse the East offense, as goals from Person and junior attack Leah Hunter gave the Cougars a 9-6 lead with 18:30 to play.

West rallied once again. Just 17 seconds after Hunter’s goal, West sophomore Peyton Mottice scored on an assist from junior midfielder Tabitha Rodriguez, then Bednarik scored with 16:42 left to make it 9-8.

East maintained a small lead for the next 12 minutes, then Hunter fired in her second goal of the game with 3:02 left to give the visitors an 11-9 lead.

West wasn’t through, and they relied on their two hat trick performers (Bednarik and Rodriguez each finished with three goals). With 2:37 left, Bednarik tallied to make it 11-10, then Rodriguez tied it up at 11-11 when she scored from just in front of the goal with 1:40 left.

The hosts appeared to have the momentum when Mottice grabbed a loose ball at midfield and West worked its way downfield, but the Whippets lost the ball near the goal, and Person recovered it with one minute left.

“I had a lot of adrenaline working at that point,” said Person with a smile.
Person worked the ball upfield, and East controlled the ball for much of the final minute.

Person noted, “Our attack was settling and working for the open pass [today].”
With 11.4 seconds left, the Cougars felt good that the 8-meter shot was in the hands of Lawton, a University of North Carolina commit.

“We all felt really confident with Liv taking that shot,” said Wurzel.
West nearly tied the game up in the final seconds, working the ball quickly downfield, but a last-second shot was stopped by Robinson. One second later, the Cougars joyously converged for a celebration at midfield.

West head coach Brittney Conzentino said, “We played a hard-fought game today, East is a tough team. I thought we played well throughout the game, sharing the ball, and our defense was moving their feet. But being a young team, we got a little anxious at the end and that hurt us. We need to be patient, and realize that a short time is a lot of time in lacrosse.”

Downingtown East 12, Downingtown West 11
Downingtown East 6 5 — 11
Downingtown West 7 5 — 12
Downingtown East goals: Barretta 4, E. Wurzel, Lawton 4, Person, Hunter 2.
Downingtown West goals: Bednarik 3, Feeney 2, Hoerman, DiGiorgio, Rodriguez 3, Mottice.
Goalie saves: Robinson (DE) 6, Phillips (DW) 6.