RECAP >> The moment wasn’t too big for the Emmaus girls lacrosse team playing on their home turf at Memorial Field, but the hole they got themselves into proved to be.
Playing in its first state playoff game in 11 years, the Hornets watched defending state champ Radnor jump out to a big 6-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of their state playoff game on Tuesday night.
And despite a season-long mentality of “all out, all the time” the task to overcome the large deficit proved too much as the District XI champs season came to an end in a respectable 11-6 defeat.
“Six goals is definitely not that much but when it happened so quickly and we were down, we just really had to adjust,” said Emmaus head coach Roxann Betz.
Radnor, from the hotbed of lacrosse in District One, got a game-high five-goal effort from senior Julie Breedveld and an outstanding effort between the pipes from sophomore goalie Arden Jansen as they got off to a quick start and then had to hold off a valiant come back attempt by the Hornets.
The victory sends the Raptors (17-6) to Saturday’s quarterfinal round where they will meet a familiar foe in rival Conestoga, the District One champs. The two teams have already met twice this season.
Emmaus, meanwhile, will close the books on one of the best season’s in program history with a 19-4 overall mark, including a District XI championship.
“I was just proud of the effort they put towards the rest of the game,” said Betz. “I’m proud of the outcome and the effort, I just wish I could take away that first 10 minutes of the game but it is what it is.”
Radnor, which has won four state titles and graduated 13 players off of last year’s state championship team, came out firing in the first half as they got a pair of goals from freshman Taylor Murphy, a solo score from senior Olivia Kelly and a hat trick from Breedveld to build a 6-0 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half.
“They (Radnor) move the ball extremely fast and they have a lot of talent. They have strong, fast and aggressive players that know how to cut and when to cut. They were adjusting to our zone pretty well,” said Betz.
Emmaus was finally able to get on the scoreboard with a little over seven minutes remaining in the half as junior Emily Hollinger scored her 65th goal of the season and senior Julia Cote added her 86th and 87th goals, respectively, to get the Hornets within 6-3 with 2:20 left, but the Raptors then responded with a goal from senior Amelia Reinholt with just 7.9 left in the half to push the margin to four (7-3) at the break.
The second half was an even contest between the two teams with Radnor outscoring the Hornets by just a 4-3 margin.
“Our defense came up with a number of stops so I’m proud of their effort,” said Betz.
Following the game, the Hornets sixth-year head coach had one last message for her team.
“I told the seniors and the whole group at the end that this has been one of the most enjoyable seasons,” said Betz. “They’ve definitely set the precedent for what I want Emmaus lacrosse to be.”
“They fought in every game all season long and we had a lot of come from behind victories. They played all out all the time and that was our motto. They’ve set the standard high for future years and I couldnt’ be prouder of them.”
Tonight’s game marked the final one in the high school careers of the team’s 11 seniors — Mikayla Viola, Sophia Candy, Alyssa Brader, Meredith Shields, Marybeth Smith, Kam Watkins, Madeline Conway, Julia Cote, Paige Peterson, Emily Steinert and Maya D’Alessandro.
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Radnor 11, Emmaus 6
Ra – 7-4 – 11
Em – 3-3 – 6
Ra – Julie Breedveld 5g/1a, Taylor Murphy 2g/1a, Olivia Kelley 1g, Sarah Kelley 2g/1a, Amelia Reinholt 1g/2a
Em – Julia Cote 2g, Emily Hollinger 2g, Olivia Schmidt 1g, Melea Weber 1g/1a
PHOTO GALLERY (Courtesy Nathan Lewis):
