York Catholic uses second-half surge to advance in District 3 lacrosse tournament
After the first half of Tuesday's District 3 first round game against Berks Catholic, the York Catholic girls' lacrosse team found itself trailing by a goal.
The Irish mustered just two first-half goals, yet within the first two minutes of the second half they were able to equal that output.
The No. 8-seeded Irish scored nine second-half goals to oust the No. 9 Saints, 11-6. Still, following the game, York Catholic was aware its execution must improve as it encounters No. 1-seed Kennard-Dale in the quarterfinal found on Thursday.
"We've never gotten past the second round of districts and we have our work cut out for us. Especially if we don't play better than we did tonight. That was as sloppy as I've seen my team play all year. Hopefully they got it out of their system," Irish head coach Rob Linthicum said following Tuesday's contest.
York Catholic (11-4), which trailed 3-2 at halftime, scored twice while on a man-up advantage to start the second half, taking the lead for good. Junior Lisa Casagrande (four goals, one assist) and sophomore Amanda Tufano (three goals, two assists) scored the markers for the Irish, as the duo combined for seven goals and three assists on the evening.
"Our program is pretty young. We have only one senior," Linthicum said. "They are all contributing and it's the style we have always played. We never try to rely on one or two people and make sure everybody can produce."
The lone Irish senior, Shannon Moore, came alive in the second half, scoring three goals and adding an assist.
As Berks Catholic rallied back from a 7-4 deficit — scoring twice in a 36 second span — it was Moore's goal at 11:16 that gave the Irish an 8-6 lead.
"Offensively, we spread it out more in the second half," Moore said. "We took our time and looked for the right passes. We were more confident in our play."
The Irish defense also held the Saints in check and goalie Domenica Shellenberger finished with six saves.
Berks Catholic was led by two goals each from Merideth Finneran and Taylor Dimmering. Saints goalie Catherine Maher made nine saves.
The win marks the second straight season the Irish will be in the quarterfinal round of the district tournament.
The Irish and Rams will be meeting for an estimated 17th time over the past several seasons, with the Rams winning all but one of those contests.
"They always give us a great game," Moore said. "We are going to have to slow it down on offense. Our defense has been playing great. We have a lot of newer girls on the team that have adjusted well to our play."
Linthicum is quite familiar with the Rams' program, as he used to coach the varsity team and also coaches some of their players in club ball.
"It's a good rivalry and with my background of being down there before coming here, I'm sure that all plays into it," Linthicum said. "It's probably one of the easier games for me to coach from a motivating-the-team standpoint."
York Catholic 11, Berks Catholic 6
Berks Catholic33—6York Catholic29—11
Berks Catholic goals — Merideth Finneran 2, Taylor Dimmering 2, Abby Morelli, Sarah Hayes.
Berks Catholic assists — Katherine Finneran, Hayes.
York Catholic goals — Lisa Casagrande 4, Shannon Moore 3, Amanda Tufano 3, Lindsey China.
York Catholic assists — Tufano 2, Moore, Casagrande.
Shots on goal — BC 12, YC 20
Goalies — BC, Catherine Maher (9 saves), YC, Domenica Shellenberger (6 saves)