Rocky River junior Emily Scott advances the ball up the field against heavy pressure from a Walsh Jesuit defender last Saturday afternoon. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

Fast start gets Rocky River girls past Walsh Jesuit
By Jim Horvath
Sports
Published March 31, 2010

Heading into last Saturday’s season opener against Walsh Jesuit, Rocky River girls lacrosse coach Lindsey Cooke was hoping for a quick start against the visiting Warriors.

“I wanted us to come out strong for our first game,” Cooke said. “Our goal was to score first and settle in after that.”

Sophomore Juliana Lydon took that goal to heart.

Lydon ignited a 6-0 Pirate run with a goal less than two minutes into the game as River built a big lead, then held on in the second half for a 12-7 home win on a sunny, but windy afternoon.

“We’ve been working hard for the past five and a half weeks preparing for the season,” Cooke said. “To win that first game is a real boost for the team. And it was a pretty powerful start to our third season.”

Rocky River sophomore Juliana Lydon led the team in scoring with three goals in last Saturday’s season opener against Walsh Jesuit. (West Life photo by Larry Bennet)

After going 2-9 in its first season, River came back with a much-improved 9-4 record last spring. Cooke knew the Division I Warriors would provide a stiff test for her young program.

“The big thing was we wanted them to play our game,” she said. “Coming in, we really didn’t know that much about them other than they played in Division I. We pretty much went into this game blind.

“But we controlled the ball in the first half and got into our transition game quickly,” Cooke said. We played very selflessly on offense, and that helped us build our big lead in the first half.”

The Pirates seemingly scored at will on the Warriors. Lydon, who led her team with three goals on the day, got things going with the first goal of the season with 23:09 left in the first half. A free position shot and score by junior Sarah Artiste with 17:49 remaining made it 2-0, River.

The home team kept the momentum swinging in its favor with another goal at 17:18. Just over two minutes later, junior Haley Jacob took a pass from sophomore Stephanie Davis for yet another score and a 4-0 Pirate lead with 15:11 left in the half.

River continued to maintain possession of the ball and pressure the Warrior defense. Goals at 13:12 and 12:45 made it 6-0, Pirates, at the halfway point of the first half. Walsh Jesuit finally broke the ice and scored its first goal of the game at the 9:48 mark, but River came right back with a goal at 7:40 to make it 7-1.

The Pirates built the lead to 9-1 by the halftime horn. Junior Olivia Strang scored with 3:14 left, then sophomore Erin Kehn found the back of the net as the River offense was clicking on all cylinders.

The Warriors, however, were not about to get back on the bus and go away quietly.

After four-plus minutes of scoreless play, Walsh Jesuit scored four goals in just under four minutes to cut the River lead to four at 9-5. The teams traded goals, with the Warriors taking a timeout with 5:51 left in the game and River up, 11-6.

“We had a little bit of a breakdown at that point,” Cooke said. “We tried to regroup after that. Then we went into our stall plan, and we were able to maintain our position. Once they started doubling us, we were able to make the pass to the open player and continue to move the ball.”

The Pirates tacked on one more goal with 4:28 left, forcing the visitors to start gambling more on defense. Playing with a one-player advantage in the final 1:17, Walsh Jesuit was able to score just one more goal, that coming with 1:07 remaining. River’s junior goalie, Abby Andrews, made two strong saves in the final minute.

The second-half rally allowed the Warriors to come away with a slight 18-17 shots on goal advantage. Andrews had 11 saves on the day, nearly pitching a shutout in the first half.

Offensively, Davis, Jacob and Strang each fueled River’s cause with two goals each, while single goals came from Artiste, Kehn and junior Chelsea Hvizda.