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Two girls lacrosse teams having fantastic seasons faced off against one another Tuesday evening, as host Rocky River ignored the cool, rainy conditions to win a tightly-contested battle, 7-6, over Walsh Jesuit despite playing a man down for the final 18 minutes of the contest.
“This was a big win,” said Rocky River coach Colleen Hile. “They are always a big team for us to play. They always bring the energy. They’re also very intense, and, not aggressive, but a strong team. This year, too, they’re having a fabulous season. To be able to play them and be a man down and still hold our own is a really big compliment to where we’re headed. But they’re headed for big things, too.”
Grace DeWitt came up with three shorthanded goals in the second half for the Pirates, now 9-1 overall and 6-0 in Division II, Region 5. The junior midfielder finished the game with five goals, giving her 31 on the season and 101 for her career, and also had an assist.
“This was a big region five game for us, and our whole team is just about being on top and being the best that we can be,” DeWitt said. “Those three shorthanded goals weren’t just for me. They were for the whole team in general. We were able to show that with all our hard work and effort, no matter rain or shine, we were still able to put our best foot forward.”
Walsh is now 9-1 overall and 3-1 in Region 5 play. The Warriors were led by Maddie Rogers with three goals and Jackie Holtzer with two, but they never could find a way to contain DeWitt.
“DeWitt is unstoppable,” said Hile. “She really, really is. Her speed is incredible. Her ability to handle the stick. Her ability to weave between people constantly and effortlessly, and I don’t even know how she does it. She always goes hard. She never needs someone to tell her to go 100. She’s automatically going 110 percent.”
Neither team ever led by more than two goals in a match that saw the hosts hold a 4-3 lead at halftime. Walsh quickly tied the score early in the third period, and then came a stretch that could have spelled doom for the Pirates.
First, Mackenzie Russell was given her second yellow card, which meant she was done for the rest of the game. The senior is one of the top players for Rocky River and she scored her team’s third goal of the night. A few minutes later, at the 6:01 mark of the third quarter, Daisy Thompson was given a yellow card, which was the fourth of the night for the Pirates, meaning they would have to play a man down for the rest of the game.
“It was a huge stressor,” Hile said. “But they really, really held their own. They made sure to keep themselves in the mindset of encouraging each other. The sidelines the entire night was very supportive. I was really, really proud of all of them.”
DeWitt scored the first of her shorthanded goals with 3:45 left in the third, giving the hosts a 5-4 lead. After two very long fourth quarter possessions that saw the Pirates control the ball for a total of nearly 6 minutes, DeWitt scored again to open a 6-4 lead with 5:57 to play. It appeared River’s delay game was going to work.
“The huge takeaway that the offense had going into to the fourth quarter was that a huge part of our defense was being smart on offense,” Hile said. “They totally got the message. Kaitlyn Byrne was even driving toward the goal, and she pulled back and made a smart decision. That can be really hard when you know it’s a close game and you want to score.”
Rogers scored an unassisted goal for Walsh with 3:10 to play, cutting the margin to 6-5, but DeWitt answered with another shorthanded marker with 1:38 left. Holtzer gave the home crowd reason to be nervous when she found the nets with 43 seconds to play to once again cut the margin to one, but the Pirates gained possession on the ensuing faceoff and ran out the clock.
