Conestoga edges top seed Harriton in heart-stopping district final

WEST GOSHEN >> A few minutes after Conestoga’s heart-stopping 11-10 victory over top seed Harriton in the District 1 3A girls’ lacrosse championship final Thursday, Pioneer head coach Amy Orcutt reflected on her team’s rocky road to glory.

“I think our team has shown a lot of resilience this year, we’ve been through a lot, had a lot of injuries, concussions, illnesses,” said Orcutt. “We had four starters out at different points of the season. The way the team pulled together and really came through, and the way the girls are stepping up has been great. We have a lot of depth. I’m really proud of their effort and resilience and toughness.”

Thursday’s contest at West Chester East High School’s Harold I. Zimmerman Stadium was a seesaw affair, in which the lead changed hands several times but neither team gained more than a two-goal advantage. The score was tied 10-10 with less than two minutes left, and top seed Harriton (20-2) had possession.

With 1:27 left, Harriton made a costly turnover, passing the ball out of bounds and the No. 3 seed Pioneers (18-3) took over. Conestoga took a couple of unsuccessful shots at the goal in the final minute, but finally broke through when sophomore midfielder Julia Littlewood took a pass from senior midfielder Liza Bailey behind the net and fired a shot into the net with 30.6 seconds left. Littlewood led the Pioneers with four goals.

“I was really pumped up in the final minute, I really wanted to win the game and I knew we could do it,” said a smiling Littlewood. “Liza flipped the ball to me, and when I got it, nothing was going to stop me. I took it around the crease, I kind of saw an opening between [the goalie’s] legs and took a shot.”

Harriton goalie junior Alex Turner made a number of tough stops throughout the game and in the final minute, and finished with more than a dozen saves.

On the ensuing draw control, Conestoga sophomore midfielder Rachel Clark gained control of the ball, and the Pioneers kept possession the rest of the way. Clark finished with three goals and won seven draw controls.

“At halftime [Conestoga was losing 6-5], we got really pumped up and thought that we’re not losing to this team again,” said Clark, whose Pioneers had lost to Harriton, 13-12, two months ago. “We really worked as a team today, not as individuals.”

The Pioneers held high-scoring Harriton to its lowest goal total of the season.

Conestoga senior defender and tri-captain Hailey Klinger said, “I think our team really came together in the second half, we finished on attack and played strong defense, we were really there for each other. We’ve worked so hard to be here [in the final], working hard every day at practice, working after practice. We’ve really been focused.”

In the first half, Harriton had the upper hand in the draw control – senior Emily Stewart and freshman Grace Dwyer combined for 11 draw controls for the game – and jumped out to a 3-1 lead five minutes into the game.

Conestoga goalie Sam Centofante made a couple of nice saves in the following few minutes, and eventually the Pioneers went ahead 4-3 midway through the first half. Harriton stormed back with a three-goal outburst in five minutes, and held a 6-4 lead four minutes before halftime.

But Conestoga began to turn the tide after halftime, controlling the draw and scoring three goals (two from Clark) to take an 8-6 lead.

Orcutt said, “We were losing the draw in the first half, but in the second half, we were changing people on the draw to see what would work, and I think Rachel Clark (seven draw controls) and [senior midfielder and tri-captain] Sydney Sloan did a great job pulling the ball in.”

Conestoga held Harriton scoreless for 16 minutes while building its 8-6 lead.

Midway through the second half, the Rams found their scoring touch once again, getting a goal from Dwyer following some patient passing by Harriton, then an 8-meter shot from Stewart to tie the score at 8-8 with 9:34 left.

Just 34 seconds later, Littlewood scored to put the Pioneers ahead, a lead they quickly increased to 10-8 when senior attack and tri-captain Nia Scott tallied her second goal of the game with 8:45 to go.

“We missed a couple of opportunities on the offensive end today, but we did a good job in finishing the shots we were able to take,” said Orcutt. “And we had very few turnovers.”

Sloan added, “We really came together as a team in the second half, working as a unit, and I’m so proud of our team.”

Harriton came back one more time. Grace Dwyer scored after a long run, then following a couple of smart saves by Turner, Dwyer scored her fourth goal of the game, a shot from the left side, to tie the game at 10-10 with 3:01 left.

“Our effort today was phenomenal, I thought we played gritty, coming back from two-goal deficits twice,” said Harriton head coach George Dick. “Sometimes you don’t do the little things you need to do to win – give Conestoga credit, they had a good game plan defensively, they made adjustments to our attack in the second half. I think we learned today that we have to play our game, to not let the other team dictate what we’re going to do.”

Also for Harriton, junior Lucy Dwyer and senior Allie Schwab tallied two goals apiece,

“We have 10 seniors on the team, the most I’ve ever had,” said Dick, who coached the Rams to a PIAA state championship in 2013. “We’ve had a great season, we only lost one game before today [to Radnor]. This was a tough loss for us – the kids are disappointed but I know they’re looking forward to States. Our team is a classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of the parts – they’re great teammates to each other, and they’ve been beating teams that have seven or eight college commits. It’s been a joy to coach them, and hopefully I’ll be doing it for a couple of weeks more.”

Conestoga 11, Harriton 10
Conestoga 5 6 – 11
Harriton 6 4 – 10
Conestoga goals: Littlewood 4, Clark 3, Scott 2, L. Bailey, J. Bailey.
Harriton goals: G. Dwyer 4, Williams, Stewart, Schwab 2, L. Dwyer, Henderson.
Goalie saves: Conestoga – Centofante 5; Harriton – Turner 14.