Moments after stepping off the bus, Lindsay Whipple knew she and her Nazareth girls lacrosse teammates had their hands full against Downingtown East.
Warm-ups passed, and Whipple counted just one dropped ball by the Cougars, who used crisp passing and a patient, methodical attack to end the Blue Eagles' season Tuesday night with a 20-5 win in a PIAA first-round matchup at Memorial Field at Emmaus. Downingtown East meets the winner of Radnor and North Penn on Saturday in the quarterfinal round.
''Their stick skills were a lot better than ours,'' Nazareth coach Jen Nolan said. ''They took smart shots. Their goalie made some incredible saves. But again, we shot right at the goalie. We made her look like an MVP.''
The real difference-maker for the Cougars was junior midfield/center Kelly Devlin, who controlled the game at the draw and in the box.
Devlin's technique in the draw is flicking the ball over her head so the opponent has to run through her.
''I normally look to get it to one of my offensive players,'' said Devlin, who finished with four assists and three goals, including the last of 10 straight in the first half to enforce a running clock. ''Sometimes I'll just draw it to myself and try to look for the pass upfield.''
No matter what she did, Nazareth had trouble winning possession, never able to get a read on where the ball was headed.
''Just getting possession is the whole game,'' Whipple said. ''If we had possession more than they did we would've won the game.''
Nazareth cut the deficit to 14-5 with 13:03 to play after seniors Whipple and Alexandra Edwards scored back-to-back goals in less than a minute.
Whipple and Edwards combined for five goals and seven assists in the District 11 final win against Emmaus last week. Tuesday, Downingtown East's possession and checking stifled the Blue Eagles' top scoring threats.
Edwards said the Cougars' defense was patient, chipping away at the ball instead of swinging hard on one check.
Patience also keyed the Cougars' attack 4 sophomore attacker/midfield Haley Nelson even found time to tie her shoe during a possession.
''We've been working on discipline,'' Devlin said. ''In getting not the first cut but the open cut so we have a wide open-goal if we can.''
Edwards called the Cougars (19-5) the toughest team Nazareth faced all season.
Whipple echoed her teammate.
''We had our heads knowing we had to play some of the toughest teams in the state,'' Whipple said. ''Coming out here, we know they played from elementary school on. And we just started as a JV-varsity program.''
Despite the tough ending to its season, there were no tears or looks of dismay on the faces of the Nazareth players.
''Not every coach ... not every player can say that they lost their first game of the season, they lost their last game of the season, but they had 21 wins in the middle,'' Nolan said.
Downingtown East -- 12 - 8 -- 20
Nazareth -- 2 - 3 -- 5
(DE) Goals: Christine Stevenson (6:02, 9:04, 12:22, 16:41, 42:21) Haley Nelson (10:58, 15:15, 17:49, 24:59, 48:45) Kelly Devlin (12:34, 19:58, 46:10) McKenzie Rafferty (9:47, 26:55, 45:00) Ashley Poli (0:22, 35:10) Emily Solenberger (25:40, 43:00) Assists: Devlin (4) Solenberger (4) Stevenson, Poli, Nelson, Melissa Hummel, Julianne Jochym, Haley Schwartz; Shots: 32; Saves: Marya Fratoni 9; Record: 19-5. (N) Goals: Alexandra Edwards (30:50, 36:57) Lindsay Whipple (4:50, 36:05) Amanda Denger (23:56) Assists: Kathleen Bezik; Shots: 15; Saves: Rachel Strzlecki 8, Record: 21-2.
FROM THE MORNING CALL
On this page I will have all information on sports events from Nazareth High School and all other sports events in the country. I will also have news about myself and other people.
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