Banner day for Finley, Villa Maria in downing Radnor

WEST GOSHEN >> Exactly what Erin Finley and her fellow Villa Maria seniors were chasing crystallized for the midfielder Thursday morning.

As she and her classmates ran through graduation rehearsal at the Villa gym, Finley had a spare moment to gaze at the walls. She read the baby blue and white banners touting championships of all sorts from the school’s vaunted athletic programs — field hockey, swimming, volleyball. Conspicuous in its absence, at least to Finley’s eye, was anything that said “lacrosse.”

Finley made sure that the next generation of Villa Maria players wouldn’t have to endure such an omission.
Finley provided two goals and two assists, spearheading an offense in support of goalie Maddie Medve and her 10 saves as the Hurricanes blew past Radnor, 9-4, in the District 1 Class 2A final at West Chester East High School.

It might not have been an upset by the seeds. But the way in which top-seeded Villa disposed of No. 2 Radnor, the two-time reigning District 1 champion and presiding PIAA Class 2A champ, was astoundingly comprehensive.

The Hurricanes led 7-3 at the break, then held Radnor (17-5) to one goal in the second half, no mean feat against a Raiders side averaging 14 goals per game this season.

Medve was the main reason. The senior goalie stopped seven shots in the first half, preventing Radnor’s attack from ever getting going.

“It sets the tone for how the game’s going to go,” Medve said. “Once I get that initial first save, I’m ready and in it for the long haul.”

By the time Radnor did start to sort things out, they were in such a deep hole that there was no recovering. The Villa defense did a stellar job of clogging up the middle with its blend of tall and quick markers, giving Radnor’s offense no room to operate.

Bridget Finley finds Erin Finley. Lovely passing play from Villa. 6-3 Hurricanes. 3:25 to half. pic.twitter.com/3vQIIbwKnM

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) May 24, 2018

A plan of attack predicated on cutting across goal and pinpoint feeds from Cate Cox and Molly May behind the net ground to a halt. And once Radnor had to start recouping a deficit, it got paralyzed by the choice between patiently working through sets or moving fast to prevent Villa’s defense from setting up.

“It’s intimidating for an attack to look at so many tall girls,” Finley said. “But even us shorter girls, we try to get our sticks up and try to keep everything big so that field seems smaller for the attackers. Get ourselves big and get ourselves in the passing lane. We’re big physically but we’re also big with our voices. We keep talking loud, making sure the slides are there.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Radnor vs. Villa Maria

“I think what was hard for us was that when we were trying to drive, they were basically doubling the ball,” Cox said. “I think they knew some of our plays honestly. They definitely seemed to have a sense of how we ran our offense. We like to settle our offense and work it around and set up our plays a lot, and I think honestly they saw that coming and they just outplayed us from that perspective.”

Cox set up a pair of goals to Julia Rigolizzo, and Ellie Mueller and May added unassisted tallies in the first half. But even had Carleigh Goldstein’s marker at 11:37 of the second not been waved off for an illegal stick in what would’ve then been an 8-5 game, the Raiders still faced an uphill climb back into the game.

Villa, meanwhile, made the most of its chances. Phoebe Proctor was almost as good as Medve with 11 stops. But with Radnor outshooting Villa, 23-22, it was a matter of putting the ball on cage more, even with Medve on her game and exerting influence in the minds of Radnor shooters to alter their shots before they’d even been fired.

“I felt they were getting impatient and not taking the best shots that they could,” Medve said. “They were really rushing. I told my defenders, ‘stay calm, play our game, this is our game to win or to lose. Play the Villa game, and play together.’ And we accomplished that.”

Villa didn’t miss its chances, hence the seven-goal outburst in the first half. Tellingly, all seven (and eight of the nine total) were assisted on. And with the different shot trajectories — whether from speedy Hannah Young flashing across the crease for two goals or towering Lizzie Walheim raining down three goals — the Hurricanes proved just how varied and dangerous they can be.

“We kind of had a picture of what their defense was going to give us, so we knew we had to come out hard for us,” Finley said. “We knew we had to keep spread out. We’ve focused on keeping spread out and making the defense go as wide as possible to open up the middle for our cutters.”

Trophy time for Villa. pic.twitter.com/RRUwJfe9oe

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) May 24, 2018

Radnor coach Brooke Fritz now has to regroup after a districts loss for the first time since 2015. But thanks to the redemption possibility offered by the state tournament, the sour taste can be cleansed.

“I think we’re all pretty bummed out and I think we all know what a talented team we are, and all it takes is us all getting on the same page and wanting it a little more,” Cox said. “I think they probably wanted it more today, and that’s why they won.”

And for Villa, well, that new banner for the gym is just one of the many things Finley and company left the field celebrating.

“We’re just sitting here crying because we’re so happy,” she said. “We worked so hard all four years to finally get to this point, and I don’t think any group of girls deserves it more.”