The final score of a game is not always indicative of how close it actually was.
That is truly the case in Pennridge’s 17-11 victory over host Pennsbury in a Suburban One League National Conference girls lacrosse contest on Tuesday.
Maddy Edinger got the Rams on the board early, putting in a goal just 44 seconds into play on the first shot of the day. Kendall Posey assisted. Pennsbury answered, then Edinger got another to make it 2-1.
After that Pennridge scored five more goals while Pennsbury had just one, so the teams headed into the final minute of the first half with the Rams holding a rather cushy 7-2 lead.
It became a little too close for comfort for Pennridge in that last minute, as the Falcons reeled off three goals in 53 seconds to cut the lead to 7-5 at halftime.
Pennridge came out hot in the second half, repeating its first half success as the Posey-to-Edinger connection once again struck on the first shot just 27 seconds in.
The Rams built up an 11-5 lead but 10 minutes into the half, they ran into trouble. A pair of yellow cards left them down two players, and Pennsbury capitalized, scoring two goals before the field was even.
Kate Unzicker and Edinger each scored to open the Pennridge lead up to 13-8, but again, the Falcons closed the gap with three consecutive goals and with 7:51 remaining, the Rams were clinging to a 13-11 lead.
With 6:57 to go, Edinger netted a goal to give the Rams some breathing room, and they were able to score three more after that to seal the win.
“This game was fun to play,” said Edinger, a senior who will continue her playing career at West Chester. “It’s great when it’s a good, competitive game.
“I think at halftime we knew that they were gaining momentum and we needed to break that. We needed to get the momentum back so getting that first goal in the second half helped us a lot. I think our energy was the difference. We’re always hyping each other up and it’s so rewarding when your teammate comes over and tells you you’re doing a good job.”
It was the eighth consecutive win for the Rams, who are in the hunt in the SOL National.
“This was a really big win for us,” Edinger said. “We needed it in order to try to stay close (to league leading North Penn) in the league. Pennsbury kept coming back so I’m really glad we were able to get this one.
“This is a huge confidence boost for us. Our cuts and hitting the open girl quickly really helped us and overall, we worked hard to try to capitalize and to pick up ground balls off the draw. I think we definitely struggled on the checks and horizontal pushing, but that happens.
“I love this team. We’re always doing our best and we have a lot of potential. I think we can definitely make a better playoff run than we did over my last couple of years with the team. This is the year. Last year was our first time all playing together so this year we built up chemistry and we’re working better as a team. I’m really excited to see how far we can go.”
Edinger led all scorers with eight goals and one assist, one ground ball and two interceptions, while Unzicker had five goals and an assist, four ground balls and three interceptions, Sophie Craig scored one goal, had one assist and two ground balls, Amelia Loughery contributed a goal and an assist, Natalie Yilanjian and Ava Fantaskey each scored one goal, had four interceptions and two ground balls, Posey picked up three assists, one ground ball and one interception, Grace Rosica had one assist, four interceptions and three ground balls, Leah Verespy chipped in an assist and a ground ball, and Lauren Moylan picked up a ground ball for the Rams.
“It was really back and forth,” said Unzicker, a sophomore. “It was really exciting for us to come out with this one. We were really excited for it and we came out hungry for it. We really wanted it. We’ve had a couple nice wins in a row so things are going good for us. Our team chemistry is really good and we’re working really well together. This was a real team win.
“We knew they were a good team and we played to that level. We kept our composure and we really worked the ball. Everyone got a touch. It wasn’t just one person.
“They scored three goals at the end of the first half and that’s where we really needed to keep it together and we did a great job of doing that. This win definitely boosts our confidence.”
The Rams outshot the Falcons, 36-20.
Freshman Anjali Verma made six saves in goal for the Rams.
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