Good Counsel is young but quick, leading the Falcons to the top seed heading into the WCAC tournament.
By Brian Katkin
She had a wide smile on her face despite the fresh cut above her nose. But senior Mary Swarthout wasn’t smiling because she had played so impressively, but because of the way her undersized Good Counsel Falcons were able to beat the much bigger Bishop Ireton Cardinals, 11-5.
“We have a lot of speed and stick skills,” Swarthout said. “It definitely makes up for our size because we can run anyone down or we can just spin through. It really makes a difference with our speed and athleticism.”
The Falcons (11-6) proved that they are yet again the unquestioned team to beat heading into the WCAC playoffs next week as they defeated returning conference runner-ups Holy Cross earlier this season and now second-place Bishop Ireton (14-3), who had won 13 of its previous 14 games.
Three minutes into the second half, Swarthout intercepted a Bishop Ireton pass and was struck in the face by a Cardinals’ stick. Swarthout quickly got back up and took the ball straight to the goal where she scored to start a decisive 6-0 run for the Falcons.
“I want to be a leader…I’m just really excited because it’s my last season and I’m trying to give it everything I’ve got,” Swarthout said. “If I miss a ball, if I get down on the ground, if someone pushes me over, I just get back up and keep on going because I have determination.”
With just under six minutes left in the game, Barnwell and Gray scored again, prompting Haight to re-insert Swarthout, who was taken out for a short two-minute break after sprinting the length of the field nearly the whole game, helping where she could on offense and defense.
“Mary’s the consummate leader on the field,” Good Counsel coach Michael Haight said “Mary works hard in practice and gets the kids ready to go. [She] runs 110 yards every opportunity she has and she won’t stop; we have to give her a minute break once in awhile.”
After a stretch of three games in five days, Good Counsel showed some signs of fatigue in the opening minutes, but had enough energy to match Bishop Ireton’s aggressive defense as both teams were held scoreless for almost nine minutes. Good Counsel’s Kelsey Conway struck first at 16:15 on an assist from Swarthout.
Bishop Ireton responded soon after on a strike from Allie Fife at 13:19. Swarthout added a goal and Kelly Lechner added two. But the Cardinals refused to quit, using goals from Brittany Barnwell and Lauren Gray to narrow the Falcons’ lead to 4-3 after the first 25 minutes.
“We told them to have fun and play their game and understand that when we play our game we’re very hard to beat,” Haight said. “We had a lot of turnovers in the first half and we said, ‘Just clean it up and you guys will be successful.’”
Good Counsel’s defense stiffened and Lechner sealed the game at 2:03 with her third goal, completing her hat-trick.
“We’ve had a lot of games in a short amount of time,” said Swarthout, who will play field hockey and lacrosse at Catholic University next year. “It just takes a lot of determination to get back up and keep going each day.”
NOTE: Last Sunday, five Good Counsel players, Jackie Vanwagner, Monica Baumgartner, Shannon Lechner, Christina Sheridan and Emily Cunningham were named to the U.S. Lacrosse National Tournament team.