By Scott Clayton - Senior Staff
Writer, 5/29/07
Junior Kelly
Draper (above) winds up to
deliver the game-winning goal
for Shore's girls lacrosse team,
which captured the South Jersey
Group I title with a thrilling
10-9 victory over host Holy
Cross. The Blue Devils trailed
by five goals in the first half,
but rallied behind six goals
from Draper and a pair of
second-half scores by sophomore
Corey Murray to hand the
Crusaders their second loss of
the season. Click
here for photo gallery. DELRAN �?? The
Shore girls lacrosse team may not like finding itself in the position
it was in on Tuesday - down five goals in the first half - but at least
coach Chris Raichle knows exactly what to do in such instances.
�??There�??s
a switch on their backs and we just switch it on,�?� Raichle joked. �??We
do it every game. I don�??t know what it is, but when they turn that
switch on, they just go.�?�
While
Raichle is still looking for his team to play a complete game, the
bright side of Shore�??s situation is that the Blue Devils are still
giving themselves chances. Shore recovered from a five-goal, first-half
deficit in Tuesday�??s South Jersey Group I final to down Holy Cross,
10-9. Shore will face North Jersey champion Mountain Lakes in the Group I final Friday at Holmdel at 6 p.m.
Junior Kelly Draper scored a goal with 1:10
remaining in the first half to pull the Blue Devils (21-1) to within
three at the break. Draper then went on to add five more goals,
including the game-winner into the lower right of the net off an
eight-meter shot with 2:27 to play.
�??I
feel like once we got it tight again, we knew we were back,�?� Draper
said. �??Even though they tied it back up and took the lead, we knew it
was our game.�?�
It was anything but Shore�??s game in the first half. After Blue Devils junior attack Ali Houlis began the game with her 100th
career goal off a feed from Leah Wasserman, the Lancers kept play in
the Shore end of the field. Carly Kindborn scored three times as Holy
Cross took a 6-1 lead.
�??They
were out-hustling us,'' Raichle said. "They were winning the draws and
they pretty much controlled the entire first half. The eight-meter
shots were 9-to-2, so that didn�??t help.�?�
The
two eight-meters that Shore was awarded both came from a tight angle to
the goal, but it was from there that Wasserman was able to create
enough space for the goal that started the Shore comeback. Wasserman�??s
goal with 3:38
to play ended nearly 20 scoreless minutes for the Blue Devils. The goal
that followed from the crosse of Draper made it a game again.
�??We
have momentum swings,�?� sophomore attack Corey Murray said. �??I thought
once we got those two goals we would keep it going and that�??s exactly
what we did.�?�
�??I�??m
not saying at all that it was the refs, but of course the calls added
to our frustration,�?� Draper said. �??We�??re used to playing more
aggressive, but I guess we weren�??t used to the calls and we weren�??t
sure what to do. On defense we relaxed a little more and moved our
feet, because the checks obviously weren�??t working.�?�
It
would eventually be more than 20 minutes between goals for Holy Cross
as Shore put its stamp on the game coming out of halftime. Draper
matched Wasserman�??s tough-angle goal with one of her own just over 3½
minutes into the second half.
Less than two minutes later, Murray
pulled the Blue Devils within one off a set offensive play. Draper,
Houlis and Wasserman were circling the ball around the cage behind Holy
Cross goalie Kara Hannon when Murray cut into open space in front of the crease and finished off a feed from Draper.
�??We were just working it around the net,�?� Murray
said. �??Basically, the play is designed for the three people working
behind the net, but my girl left me and I just cut right in there.�?�
�??We
actually ran a lot of plays in the second half, which we didn�??t in the
first half,�?� Raichle said. �??Sometimes these girls are good on their own
and sometimes they have to have plays called for them. Today we had to
call plays and that�??s okay. Whatever it takes to get them going.�?�
Draper�??s goals with 18:19 and 14:07
to play gave the Blue Devils a short-lived 7-6 lead. The junior bullied
her way to a rebound after Hannon stopped a Wasserman shot and scored
before firing another eight-meter shot into the lower right portion of
the net.
�??I usually try to go for that spot just because it�??s obviously the furthest away from the goalie�??s stick,�?� Draper said.
Erin Steel scored her second and third goals of the game to give Holy Cross an 8-7 lead with 8:45
to play. With the Lancers controlling the ball and looking to run time
off the clock, junior midfielder Anna Pierce won a race to a loose
ball. After a restart, Pierce outran the Holy Cross defense downfield
and found Murray sitting on the doorstep for the tying goal.
�??With Anna�??s speed, she just flew up the field,�?� Murray said. �??Raichle was just yelling, �??Corey get open!�?? She hit me with a great pass.�?�
Just
36 seconds later, Draper spun free of her defender and staked Shore to
a 9-8 lead on a run that began behind the net. Kindborn, however,
netted her fourth goal of the game on an eight-meter shot that tied the
game at nine with 3:35 to play.
After
taking a stick to the head on a run to the goal, Draper earned the
right to deliver the Blue Devils the win from the eight-meter line,
directly in front of Hannon.
It
is the third straight sectional crown for Shore, which won the NJSIAA
South B title the past two springs before the state restructured its
lacrosse playoff system. Several key players remain from last year�??s
team that reached the Tournament of Champions final.
�??I look up to the older girls a lot,�?� Murray
said. �??This is my first year on the varsity level so I really take a
lot from them and learn a lot from them. If I see them with their heads
down, I�??ll put my head down, too. That didn�??t happen today. Everyone
just kept high spirits.�?�
�??They�??ve
got something to prove,�?� Raichle said. �??They want to go as far, or
farther, as the team did last year. They are looking forward to moving
on.�?�
And Raichle is hoping not to have to reach for the switch.
E-mail: Clayton@digitalsports.com
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