WEST CHESTER — Sarah Kelley and the Radnor girls lacrosse anticipated an emotionally charged Penncrest to give them a fight Tuesday in a PIAA Class 3A semifinal at West Chester Henderson.
A program mired in turmoil following the abrupt suspension of head coach Caitlin Morgan, Penncrest pulled together and made this third and final showdown with its Central League rival much closer than anyone had anticipated.
Radnor withstood a furious Lions comeback and escaped with a thrilling 13-11 victory. The District 1 champion Raptors will play Conestoga for the state championship Saturday afternoon at Penn State.
Kelley’s draw control with two minutes left in the fourth quarter came on the heels of Penncrest pulling within two, thanks to Kat Harding’s goal with 2:15 remaining.
“We didn’t want to think about the last game. Honestly, that was very uncharacteristic of them,” Kelley said, referring to Radnor’s 18-2 rout of Penncrest in the district semifinals last month. “We know they have a lot of great athletes and lacrosse players in general. We came in with a huge head of steam and they did as well. I think what carried us throughout the game was knowing they were going to play hard and give everything they had. We just had to play harder.”
Rose Tree School District administration explained in a letter to families that Morgan was not terminated from her position. There haven’t been public comments on Morgan’s absence, however.
Assistant coaches Jackie Baker, Kathryn Flick, Katie Doyle and Heather Phillips were on hand for Tuesday’s state semifinal along with athletic director Chip Olinger, who performed an oversight role on the sideline.
The Lions played solid defense from the opening whistle and looked nothing like the team that struggled mightily to keep pace with the Raptors two weeks ago. Radnor’s Taylor Murphy scored the game’s first three goals and Kelley found the back of the net with 49 seconds to go in the first quarter, but Cara Childs got Penncrest on the board with 10 seconds remaining. It was the 100th career goal for the junior.
“I know a lot of the girls on that Penncrest team and I know they have a lot of strong senior leadership. They have the talent and the athleticism and the mental state to win a state championship, to be a good team like we are. I give them a lot of credit because they had a lot of energy today,” Radnor senior Grayson Buono said. “But we came out with the same mindset that we had against Garnet Valley (in the first round of the state playoffs). We beat them twice before and they’re probably saying it’s hard to beat a good team three times in the same season. … I had full confidence in everyone. We knew it would be tough, but we all came together and got it done.”
Radnor (23-2) wasn’t deterred when Penncrest made a push in the second half. The Raptors led 9-2 in the second quarter but saw their lead cut to 11-8 in the final minute of the third. Fran Lucchesi’s tally with 11 seconds left gave Radnor a little bit of breathing room going into the final stanza.
While Kelley was able to win the draw with two minutes left, the Lions regained possession in the final 90 seconds. Sophom*ore Anna Reger then caused a turnover on the defensive end, enabling the Raptors to run out the clock.
“We always practice how crucial the last quarter is in terms of staying disciplined and getting to the ball,” Kelley said. “They have a lot of talented players all across the field. We knew we couldn’t give up that draw and couldn’t give them a chance on attack.”
Marin Mooney accounted for Radnor’s lone goal in the fourth quarter. Murphy led the team with six goals.
The Raptors were able to win without senior leader Kate Gallagher, who suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter and did not return.
“Kate is an awesome leader and one part she leads really well is the defense,” Buono said. “We missed her with the communication part on ‘D’ and also she’s great on the circle. That was a bummer, her being out for the game, but at the same time we have girls that are super talented and are ready to go. Everyone stepped up. We’ve worked so hard to get to this point and we didn’t want to give it up.”
