April 24, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

GFS sticksters beat Bambies for first win
by TOM UTESCHER

The host Tigers of Germantown Friends broke out of a halftime tie in last Monday’s non-league lacrosse match, outscoring St. Hubert Catholic High School 5-1 during the second period to claim their first victory of 2008 by a score of 10-6.

Junior Lydia Kring and sophomore Betsy Sachs each registered a hat trick for the winners, who also received two goals and an assist from Mariah Barstow, a senior who plans to continue her career at Maine’s Bates College.

The Tigers had started out the season 0-3 against a trio of Girls Inter-Ac League teams: 2007 champion Episcopal Academy and runner-up Germantown Academy, and a much-improved Notre Dame squad. For the Bambies of St. Hubert’s, last week’s trip to Germantown resulted in a 2-2 record.

Assisted by Barstow, Tigers junior Maura McInerney-Rowley opened the scoring eight minutes into the contest, but in a two-and-a-half minute span in the middle of the first half, Hubert’s went ahead 3-1 on goals by Ashley White, Lillian Mongon, and Chrissy Grana.

Germantown’s Sachs had missed the Tigers’ tilt with Notre Dame because she was playing in a club ice hockey event, and she did not start in last Monday’s game. Coming off the bench, she provided a spark for the home team, helping disrupt the Bambies’ transition game in the midfield, and scoring GFS’ second goal.

A marker by the visitors’ Grana was matched by Barstow to make it 3-4, then Kring cranked out two goals in a span of 64 seconds to move the hosts ahead. In the final minute Haley McDonald found the net for St. Hubert’s, forging a 5-5 tie for halftime.

In the second half, Tigers coach Katie Bergstrom noted, “We were smart with the way we used each other. We were able to spread the defense out and get the one-v-one to goal.”

A little over two minutes into the new period, Sachs and Barstow had given Germantown a 7-5 advantage.

Barstow, Coach Bergstrom noted, “is a key connector for us in the midfield. When she has the ball she always has her head up and is aware of what’s going on all around the field.”

The Bambies’ Katie Gallagher made it a one-point game with about seven minutes elapsed, but the visitors would not score again as GFS defenders Chelsea Guy-Frank, Katie Low, Theresa Shropshire, and Avery Williamson formed a bulwark in front of senior goalie Becca Williams (two saves). Williams is headed to Trinity College next year, and fellow senior Low will attend the University of Pennsylvania.

The center draws were also going the Tigers’ way; in the second half they dominated in this category, 6-1, to enjoy a 10-8 edge for the game.

On the scoreboard, the Tigers acquired an eighth goal when Kring isolated and beat a defender, then McInerney-Rowley made good on a free-position with a little over four minutes to play. About two minutes later, Sachs circled out from behind the cage GFS lacrosse update

UPDATE: GFS got off to a strong start in Friends School League competition last week, coming from behind on Tuesday to defeat visiting Westtown, 13-11, then going on the road Friday to knock off Moorestown Friends, 15-6.

In Tuesday’s tilt, the Tigers had to rally in each half to catch the Quakers. First, Germantown recovered from a 4-0 shortfall to forge a 7-7 tie at halftime, then GFS erased an 11-9 deficit late in the game by pumping in four goals over the final four minutes. Barstow banged in six goals and dealt one assist, while Sachs scored three goals and set up two others.

Speaking of one of her defenders, Coach Bergstrom said, “Avery Williamson was absolutely amazing. In the second half we had her on Westtown’s best player, Megan Morley, and she did a great job for us.”