by Rocky River, OH – Kee On Sports entered the world of Girls Lacrosse for the first time ever and decided to start with one of the top teams in the state as Rocky River hosted Mentor. The Pirates took command early and never looked back in the 16-0 victory. Goalkeepers Acadia Hover and Claudia Walsh combined for a shutout between the pipes for the Pirates.
I asked Rocky River head coach Colleen Hile about her team’s ability to pass and be patient, increasing the chances of open shots on net, “We’ve been trying to work on being patient while also moving the ball faster. Patience doesn’t always mean going slow, so we’re putting a focus on being intentional and not forcing passes because sometimes on offense you can feel a little stressed. We want to make sure we get through the whole play and goal attempt.”
This River team played hard and as a unit, Coach Hile touched on that as well, “It speaks volumes as we have really wonderful senior leadership along with junior captain leadership on the offensive end. We have girls who really understand the game by helping tell people where to move and get the ball moving. “
Alexis Tisler, Kaitlyn Byrne and Olivia Konopka combined for 8 total goals, as Tisler and Byrne each had hat tricks, while Konopka had an excellent game on both ends of the field. Coach Hile touched on their impact tonight, “They are so creative and it is fun to watch them to play. They unleash the offense and I give them credit for willing to give up the ball and that’s wonderful to see that from players who could score. “
The Pirates jumped out on top quickly, a little over a minute in with a goal from Kaitlyn Byrne after the assist from Reagan Connelly. It was so nice, they did it twice about a minute later, with another goal from Bryne after the assist by Reagan Connelly. The Pirates led 2-0 with 22:31 left to play in the first half. The Pirates continued to use a spaced out attack, as they stood a good distance apart to create open pockets and windows to strike at will. After an Alexis Tisler goal made it 3-0, it was Mackenzie Russell finding the back of the net on a free position goal to increase the lead to 4-0. The flurry of points continued a minute later as Grace DeWitt increased the lead to 5-0 on an unassisted goal with 18:55 left.
The scoring just kept coming from there as Daisy Thompson scored her 7th goal of the year, to hand the Pirates a commanding 6-0 lead, with 18:22 left in the first half. A few moments later it was a great pass from Olivia Konopka on a tremendous end around that found a wide-open Tisler standing directly in front of the middle of the net to catch the pass and score. It was a picture-perfect play worthy of ESPN Sportscenter.
It was inside the 16th minute of action when the Cardinals went on their first true attack as they tried to get back in the game. Try as the might, the Cardinals couldn’t crack the Pirates defense as about a two-minute possession came up empty.
The game slowed down a bit, as both teams played tremendous defense. Eventually the Pirates would crack through once again with a goal. This time it was off the stick of Konopka with the assist via Bryne. This made it 8-0 as the Pirates continued to impose their will with 8:29 still to play in the first.
The Cardinals quickly swarmed the Pirates goal as they attempted to get on the scoreboard with an instant attack. The Pirates did a tremendous job of staying in front of their players and not allowing any clear paths, eventually creating the turnover. They would capitalize on the turnover with a goal from Marin Richmond after the assist from Tisler, made it 9-0. This was Richmond’s first goal of the season.
The feisty freshman Cardinal Ava Lee, continued to do her best to spark Mentor as she controlled the ball and the Cardinals crept back into the scoring zone. It led to another turnover however as Tisler positioned herself well to take it away and place the Pirates back on the attack. The Cardinal defense stood tall however and the game went to halftime 9-0 Pirates.
The Pirates kept it going by scoring early into the second with a goal from Konopka to increase it to 10-0. Shortly after, a yellow card by Ella Predina gave Rocky River a one girl advantage to play with. The Pirates wasted no time scoring on the advantage with a powerful goal from Tisler as she launched a rocket. This completed a hat trick for Tisler with 20 plus minutes left to play in regulation.
Speaking of hat tricks, it was time for Kaitlyn Bryne to pick one up herself with a goal to increase the lead to 12-0 with 14:21 left in the game. Seconds after that, Lucy Kolonick looked like she had a goal but her shot just went a bit north, bouncing off the top of the goal.
With 7:55 to go, the Pirates struck again with a goal from Bode McDougal. It was her first goal of the season, and increased the lead to 13-0. McDougal liked the taste of scoring so much, she decided to do it again about minute later. The goal coming with an assist from Mackenzie Russell.
A moment later, it was Russell going from passer to scorer with a goal of her own, to increase the advantage to 15-0 with a little over 4 minutes left to play. Lucy Kolonick scored at 2:22 to finish the scoring at 16-0.
The Pirates will be back home this Thursday against Strongsville at 7pm.
Fun facts
Senior Pirate Natalie Swallow scored her first career goal to close out the JV Game.
The Rocky River girls have some very cool traditions, that have breaded a winning culture. A few of them are, all of the girls and coaches wear the same ribbon in their hair, or on their jacket or hat. The ribbon is different every game, but they all wear it in unison.
Another is they all, players and coaches wear the same color shoelaces, and the color is revealed the last practice before the first game, and everyone changes their shoelaces during that time.
Final Goal Count
Bryne 3
Tisler 3
McDougal 2
Konopka 2
Russell 2
DeWitt 1
Thompson 1
Richmond 1
Kolonick 1
