TO BE CONTINUED?

by Aaron Gray
agray@digitalsports.com

(See videos below)

The playoff brackets were already set and both teams knew where they stood in the conference.

So when the St. Mary's High School girls lacrosse team set foot on the slick turf at Navy-Marine Corp Memorial Stadium in Annapolis on a rainy Monday, it wanted to make a closing statement against a rival before heading into the postseason.

The Saints showed range on offense and relied on the tenacity of senior goalkeeper Natalie Wills in a 12-8 victory over Severn in the IAAM A Conference regular-season finale for both teams.

St. Mary's (12-7 overall, 7-5 in the conference) knew before the bout that it would meet Maryvale Prep (3-9, 2-8) in the conference quarterfinals later this week. Leading into Monday's contest, the Saints had won only one of its last four -- an 18-5 victory at Maryvale on April 23.

"We're a very good lacrosse team and I think we've taken some unnecessary heat because of wins and losses," said St. Mary's coach Sue Chittim, whose team grabbed the lead with 6:04 left in the first half and never relinquished it.

"(Severn) is a very good team, who we should see again shortly,"

The rematch could take place in the week to come. The Admirals (11-5, 8-4) have a first-round bye and will host a semifinal game against the St. Mary's-Maryvale Prep winner next Tuesday.

"This just shows to everyone that we're in it to win and we want to go all the way," said junior midfielder Julie Schindel, one of three St. Mary's players to finish with four goals. "I think we can beat anyone we want to as long as we play like we did tonight."

The Saints ended the first half on a 4-0 run and went into the break with a 5-2 advantage. The surge proved to be the difference in the game as Severn was never able to threaten the lead. Jen Fox Fox (four goals) and Schindel each netted two scores in the first half and junior midfielder Melissa Perkins tallied two assists.

Junior midfielder Joanna Dalton scored three of her four goals for St. Mary's after the intermission.

"We've had a lot of close first halves," said Admirals coach Renie Sotiropoulos, whose team has won eight of its last 10. "We usually are able to pull it out in the second so we're were hoping that would happen again tonight. (St. Mary's) got tougher and they stood strong when they needed to."

The four-goal setback was the largest margin in a private-school defeat Severn has taken this season. The Admirals fell to John Carroll and Roland Park by one score each.

"I think we got the shots we wanted but Natalie Wills made some great saves," Sotiropoulos said. "Defensively, they had a great game plan and did a good job. Natalie made some big saves and it took some wind out of sails."

Wills (15 saves) turned aside back-to-back shots with 11:10 remaining and her team ahead by four goals. As the game progressed, Wills had a larger presence on defense for St. Mary's.

"I was just seeing the ball a little better and our defense was amazing," Wills said. "We're all best friends and we all know where we want to go."

After jumping to a 6-2 halftime lead, Schindel found Dalton in transition for a goal less than two minutes into the second half for the Saints. The score triggered a goalkeeper change for Severn, which installed sophomore Caroline Frank (four saves) to replace sophomore Hannah Hook (six saves).

Fox broke in the fresh blood quickly when her low bouncing shot got past Frank to open a 7-2 lead with 19:16 left. The Admirals blanked Caroline Cochran, one of the top scorers for St. Mary's, but there were others ready to pick up the scoring burden.

"What I've always said is that if players like Joanna, Julie and Jen score more than three goals each, we win," Chittim said.

"We need that strong production from all of them in order to win, not just isolate one. That was our moniker going into the season. We have seven strong attackers. When we get away from using all seven, that's when we struggle."

St. Mary's possessed five less draw controls than Severn but Chittim said the Saints' deliberateness on offense and advantage in ground balls (29-16) sealed the win.

The Admirals had a balanced attack on offense but their second-half rally came a little too late. Senior attackers Caroline Crow, Catherine Crowe, senior midfielder Alex Priddy and sophomore midfielder MacKenzie Carroll each tallied two goals. Carroll had an assist and senior midfielder Josie Owen added two helpers for Severn.

Severn (11-5)        2    6   -    8
St. Mary's (12-7)    6    6   -    12
GOALS: SE - Carroll 2, Crow 2, Crowe 2, Priddy 2; STM - Schindel 4, Fox 4, Dalton 4. ASSISTS: SE - Owen 2, Carroll, O'Neill; STM - Perkins 3, Schrum, Dalton. SAVES: SE - Hook 6, Frank 4; STM - Wills 15. GROUND BALLS: SE - 16; STM - 29. FACEOFFS: SE - 13; STM - 8.