High School Lacrosse
REGULAR SEASON
May 1, 2007
First round of Manual-KCD fight declared a draw
By
NATHAN CHAMBERS
BeyondTheDerby.com
The much anticipated showdown of the 2006 Kentucky Lacrosse Association Division 1 girls' finalists on Tuesday was worth the wait - but left the teams and the sport’s fans eagerly waiting for more.
Manual looked like a three-time defending champion not willing to surrender that title without a fight, climbing back from four goals down and then moving ahead on senior Samantha Canary’s goal with 1:13 remaining in the second half at Kentucky Country Day’s Michael Field.
But KCD junior Gray Robinson scored the equalizer with 0:31 left on the clock, and the game ended - fittingly, it seemed - in an 8-8 tie.
That had almost everyone buzzing about a rematch in the KLA Division 1 championship on May 17, when the winner will take all.
“Talk about building tension for the state finals,” Manual coach Steve Auden said. “I think it’s an awesome prelude.”
“I’m ready for next time,” KCD junior Christena Burell said.
Neither side sounded too disappointed with a tie - even KCD, which was eying a milestone win and celebrating Senior Night (albeit with just three seniors - and eight freshmen). The Bearcats lost to Manual 22-14 in the 2006 final.
“We were really proud in the finals last year, and we were down the whole game,” Robinson said. “So we’re seeing the amount of improvement we’ve made.”
Auden’s team likely will receive the top seed in the tournament, which will start on May 10. KCD finished the regular season with a 6-0-1 record, and Manual will take a 5-0-1 record into its finale against Oldham County. But if the Crimsons beat Oldham County and allow fewer than 12 goals, they will win the tiebreaker.
“We look forward to playing them again when the stakes are even higher,” KCD coach Patrick McAnulty said.
The Bearcats dominated Manual for much of the first half. The Crimsons jumped to a 1-0 lead on junior Kaitlin Shumate’s goal less than five minutes into the game, but KCD then scored five in a row.
Junior Christena Burell had three of those goals - while freshman Lauren Adams and junior Hayley Grant each had one - and Burell added a fourth to make it 6-2 with 3:40 left in the half. Sophomore Victoria Bickett scored Manual’s second goal.
Manual’s defense had focused its attention on KCD’s leading scorers, Grant and freshman Michelle Worthington, and that strategy successfully held them in check. Grant, who is tied with Canary for the most goals in the KLA with 19, scored just once. And Worthington, who leads the KLA with 29 points, didn’t have a goal or an assist.
But it also left Burell wide open along the right side of the field, and she had several clear shots at Manual senior goalie Annie Makela (9 saves). She scored three of her goals - including a perfectly executed give-and-go with freshman Ellen Ester hay - in transition.
“We didn’t have an answer for her because our defense was a little misarranged,” Auden said. “We neutralized (Worthington and Grant) to some extent. But that opened it up for (Burell). She has good speed, and she got down the field and got off some shots.”
But the Crimsons regrouped. Within a minute of Burell’s fourth goal, junior Samantha Segers started Manual’s climb back with a goal. Then, with 0:16.7 left in the half, junior Kara Evans scored off an assist from junior Sarah Cao to trim KCD’s lead to 6-4.
Freshman Angelique Ciliberti, who also had two assists, got one back for the Bearcats in the third minute of the second half. But Manual senior Cora Wigger took it right back less than a minute later, starting a four-goal run to the lead.
Senior Alex Blevins drew the Crimsons within one when she scored with 18:54 to go, and Canary’s first goal tied it with 12:15 left.
“We already knew that we could play with them,” McAnulty said. “But we need to play for the whole 50 minutes to knock them off. They took the intensity level a little higher in the second half, and they outplayed us.”
“We’re usually a first-half team,” said KCD sophomore goalie Kelly Beam, who made 10 saves. “We’re trying to be a second-half team. That’s been one of our goals this year.”
The Bearcats still have time to work on that - and a few other issues.
“I know both teams will be busy practicing how to beat the other,” Grant said. “That’s what we’ll be doing for the next week and a half.”
(Thanks to Ruth Mattingly for the top photo and Kim Bickett for the bottom photo.)