Quince Orchard defeats Sherwood 11-7

By Kyle Wannen
For DigitalSports.com

With slightly over 15 minutes remaining in the first half of Monday's lacrosse game, Quince Orchard trailed Sherwood 5-3 after a sluggish start.

Using crisp passing and a tight defense that muddied Sherwood's transition game, the Cougars went on to score eight of the game's next 10 goals as they rallied to defeat the Warriors 11-7.

"At the beginning there was a lot of individual work, a lot of watching each other but we finally started working together and working for each other," Cougars coach Skye Saltsman said.

"We got the feeling that we could win and that we had a lot more to give," attackman Alissa Peterson said.

At just under 15 minutes remaining, midfielder Maddie Kelly scored a free-position goal and then attackman Sara Crim scored another free-position goal to tie the game at five. Crim finished the game with four goals to lead all scorers.

"Everything came from the transition so it was everyone contributing," Crim said. "That's what we've been working on lately is just transition, transition, transition. That's where it all starts."

"I think this is probably Crim's biggest night," Saltsman said. "She had a great game and her skills are really starting to come together."

After tying the game, the Cougars (7-2) scored three consecutive goals to take a 8-5 lead into halftime. Kelly set up attackman Allie Ready for a beautiful one-timer goal, Peterson scored and Crim neeted her fourth goal just before the halftime horn.

"We knew that their goalie was good so it was up to us to get the ball back with a lot of turnovers in transition," Peterson said. "Then our offense had to take good shots in order to get back in and take over that momentum."

"Alyssa is just all over the field," Saltsman said. "She didn't get as many goals as she usually has but she was everywhere and really helped us keep on the attack."

In the second half, neither team found much offensive success but Quince Orchard really limited Sherwood's ability to move the ball into the offensive zone. Peterson scored her third goal of the night, Ready scored her second and midfielder Alyssa Odenkirchen scored as well before the Cougars played keep-away for almost the final two to three minutes of the game.

Sherwood (6-5) jumped quickly out of the gates to a 3-1 lead thanks to two goals by attackman Sarah Sadler and a goal by midfielder Vivian Alves de Sa.