Chartiers Valley takes silver in lacrosse
Julie Gould described Chartiers Valley’s 11-9 loss to Shaler in the WPIAL Division II girls’ lacrosse championship match at Highmark Stadium as a “bitter pill.”
Indeed the defeat, the Lady Colts’ fourth straight in a final and second in a row to Shaler, blemished an otherwise 13-2 season for one particular reason.
“We played poorly as a team,” Gould said.
“As I was giving out the (second-place) medals, they were all apologizing to me,” continued the CV head coach. “They know they did not play well.”
Shannon Lynch, however, did play well. The junior midfielder exploded for six goals to lift the Titans to victory.
“She killed us,” said Gould. “We expected that (type of performance) from her.”
Despite a pair of goals from Maria Stamerra and tallies from Hope Tornabene and Margo Mason, the Colts trailed, 8-4, at intermission. However on goals by Stamerra, ShyAnne Toomer, Alivia Cangelier and Tornabene, CV knotted the contest, 8-8, to start the second half.
For much of the game Gould said her players “all looked to everybody else to pick it up” and there was no one to be found until that second-half spark.
“At halftime, all I said was ‘it just takes one.’ One 50-50, one ground ball to change the momentum,” she said. “The last 25 minutes, it was do or die.”
CV’s title hopes died when Shaler responded. A pair of goals by Lynch at 18:33 and 14 minutes to play as well as a tally by Nellie Phillips at 14:55 enabled the Titans to regain the lead, 11-8.
With 3:49 remaining the Colts narrowed the gap on Stamerra’s tally but they drew no closer.
“It certainly stings,” said Gould of the loss. “At least it wasn’t by one goal,” she added.
The defeat devastated the Colts because they had built a solid program over the years and 2014, says Gould, was to be their season. “We prepared all season. This was the team to win the WPIAL,” she said, “but they played so poorly as a team. We lost the game.”
Despite the defeat, the Colts finished a successful season. They posted a 13-2 record. Their lone losses were to WPIAL champions. In addition to Shaler, the Colts lost a regular-season contest to Mt. Lebanon, which won the Division II title with a 9-7 win against Quaker Valley.
After the loss, Gould cautioned her players to not let the outcome define them.
“Don’t let one game ruin the whole season. We lost two games,” Gould said, noting to champions. “Don’t let one game destroy the great memories, the great bus rides, the spaghetti dinners, the goofy times in the locker room. It’s not worth it.”
Chartiers Valley beat Blackhawk, 15-6, in the semifinals.
Maria Stamerra, Margo Mason and Hope Tornabene accounted for all but one of the Lady Colts’ goals.
The win vaulted CV into the finals for the fourth straight season. The Colts lost to Shaler, 15-14, in last year’s final.