Last Thursday's girls' lacrosse rematch between Springside Chestnut Hill Academy and Penn Charter ended with the second one-goal decision between the Blue Devils and Quakers this season. This one went to overtime, when PC senior Gracie Shoup scored off a free position in the final seconds to clinch a 9-8 victory for visiting PC.

In the 2023 Inter-Ac League opener for both teams back on March 21, the final score was also 9-8, that result coming in regulation play and favoring SCH. The host Quakers thought they'd tied the game just before time ran out, but an apparent goal was negated by a "dangerous shot" ruling from the officials.

With last Thursday's outcome, the two teams arrived at the .500 mark from different directions, Penn Charter climbing to 3-3 (8-6 overall), while SCH slipped to 4-4 (7-5-1 overall). Shoup scored a hat trick for the winners and junior Aditi Foster recorded a game-high four goals, while Springside Chestnut Hill got three goals apiece from senior Emma Bradbury and junior Madison Freeman.

Senior Shay Romero logged nine saves in goal for the Blue Devils, but her senior counterpart from Penn Charter, Kayla Joyce, was out sick. Charter still received a strong 13-save effort from freshman Maeve Magarity, the niece of Quakers head coach Colleen Magarity Kelly.

Six days earlier, Penn Charter had chalked up a big 8-7 win over Agnes Irwin. As few days before that, the Irwin Owls had suffered their first Inter-Ac loss against still undefeated league leader Episcopal Academy. SCH has been unable to solve the Owls, losing twice to Irwin.

After the big Penn Charter win, the Quakers suffered an unexpected setback a few days later against Germantown Academy in another one-goal game, 8-9.

After the subsequent victory at SCH, PC's Shoup reflected, "I don't think we overlooked GA, but we didn't show up as well as we could have. It was an unfortunate loss, but we bounced back today."

Last Thursday at SCH, both the Devils and Quakers were well aware of the main scoring threats on the other side, and they played tough, smart defense in the first half. The first shot of the game didn't even come until six-and-a-half minutes had gone by; the attempt by PC freshman Molly Dougherty was denied by the Blue Devils' Romero.

Instead, it was SCH that was first on the board a little over two minutes later, when Bradbury forged toward the goal from the right and put away a bounce shot. Coming in from a free position out to the right of the SCH cage, Charter's Foster evened things up with 14:48 remaining in the first half.

Blue Devil juniors Freeman and Alex Reilly penetrated the Quakers' cage with 10:30 and 3:25 remaining in the opening period. PC went on the attack after this, and with two-and-a-half minutes to go SCH keeper Romero was called for a foul as she fought off a free-position attack by the visitors. She was pulled out of the cage, and senior Bea Buckley of the Quakers tossed the ball into the unprotected net with 2:16 on the ticker.

Early in the final minute, a shot by Charter freshman Ava Diaz was a little off the mark, but the Quakers recovered the ball. Awarded a free position, Buckley had a bounce shot stopped by Romero, and the Blue Devils still led 3-2 at halftime.

One dozen of the game's 17 total goals would come after halftime, and in contrast to the first period, the scoring began right away. PC's Foster tied the match at 3-3 just 17 seconds into the new half, but two minutes later Bradbury moved the hosts ahead once more. After another two minutes, a marker by Freeman gave SCH its second two-goal lead of the afternoon.

Completing a personal hat trick for the visiting side, Foster got PC back within one goal with 19:51 on the ticker, so four points had flowed onto the scoreboard in just over five minutes. Later in the sixth minute, the Blue Devils' Reilly went to the penalty box with a yellow card, and Penn Charter capitalized at 18:40, with Buckley setting up Shoup's first goal of the game to level the count at 5-5.

A minute later, the Quakers took the lead for the first time, 6-5, as Foster made good on a free position on the left side of the arc.

Bradbury earned a hat trick of her own by netting Springside's sixth goal with 15:19 showing, and this would be the first of three straight goals for the Devils. Before the other two, Romero made a save at the other end on a hard overhand shot by Quakers senior Alex Glomb.

The home team edged ahead again as junior Sarah Scollin was able to get in close for a bounce shot with 13-and-a-half minutes remaining in regulation. The Blue Devils were able to direct the following draw to junior Cortney Neverosky, and she dashed down into the arc only to have a shot repulsed by PC's young Magarity.

Instead, the eighth goal for SCH came a little later when Freeman faked a defender as she slipped through the middle, finding the net to make it 8-6 with 10:51 on the clock.

Springside Chestnut Hill did not score again, and now it was PC's turn to put in three in a row, including the game-winner in overtime. Soon after their eighth goal, at 10:45, a yellow card left the Blue Devils a player short. PC's Buckley had a shot saved by Romero, then just as the penalty was about to expire, Shoup drove from the right to close up the score to 8-7.

SCH went up on attack, but had trouble finding a gap in the Charter defense. Eventually, Bradbury looped in from the left with the ball and almost appeared to launch herself at a clump of PC defenders. She was called for a charge and also got hurt on the play, leaving the field with a possible concussion with 5:58 left in the second half.

The Quakers set up on offense but also met firm resistance from their opponents. They proved patient, and eventually worked the ball around to the left of the goal to get Buckley open for a successful shot. The scoreboard was level once more, now at 8-8 with 5:29 to go.

The Quakers' Glomb came up with the ball on the next draw. Romero saved a shot by Shoup, but PC kept possession of the ball for a bit until it changed hands with about two-and-a-half minutes remaining. The clock was down to 14 seconds when Blue Devils junior Maddy Caliendo was awarded a free position.

She got the ball to Reilly, who drew a shooting space call on Penn Charter and was given a free position at the middle of the eight-meter loop. She put down a bouncer, but Magarity saved both the shot and the game for the Quakers. A three-minute sudden-victory overtime ensued.

Springside's Bradbury, medically cleared to resume play, won the draw at the start of overtime. A bounce shot by the Devils missed the cage, but they got the ball back. They would keep it into the final minute of the OT session, seeing several shots saved by Magarity and then corraling the rebounds.

Finally, SCH turned the ball over on a pass and Penn Charter called time-out with 52 seconds to go.

Setting up on offense the Quakers were looking for a good shot, but time on the clock dwindled away. Shoup was aware that the final 10 seconds had begun to click off the scoreboard.

She related, "My teammate Alex [Glomb] had the ball, and I knew we had to go so I popped out for the ball and ended up getting the eight-meter."

She was placed on the center-right hash mark with four seconds remaining.

"I was definitely a little nervous, because I've been struggling with my eight-meter recently," the senior said. "We'd been practicing shooting low because this goalie's good high, but she was hugging the right pipe and I saw an open spot on the left. My plan was to protect my left side, pull back to my right, and find the gap, and that worked out."

Next time out, the Quakers would face league-leading Episcopal for a second time, while the Blue Devils would have their rematch with Germantown Academy.