They say that the hallmark of a good team is being able to win even when you don’t play your best game. On Wednesday, the Varsity Girls Lacrosse team travelled to Piedmont to take on Highlanders and did exactly that, ekeing out a 10-9 win on a golden goal in overtime despite being outshot 24-13 and committing 16 turnovers. The team is now 4-1 on the season.
This game could not have been won without the outstanding play of the defense. Time and time again, the back line anchored by Kelly Todhunter, Avery Ives, Claire Zimmerman, Reese Tierney and others turned away the Highlanders offense, and several times made long runs downfield to spark the offense. Underpinning it all was goalie Addie Martin, who had a remarkable 10 saves on 24 shots by the Highlanders, including several penalty shot saves and another save where there was a breakdown in the defense leading to a wide open Highlander player with an open shot right in front of the goal.
On offense, the Dons got off to a slow start. In the first half, after allowing two goals, the team was awarded the draw because a Highlander was wearing jewelry. This seemed to turn the momentum in the Dons favor as Grace Imrie went on to score the first of her 4 goals on the night on a pass from Luca DeBiasse. At the end of the first quarter, Team Captain Avery Ives summed it up best when she told the team that “you should be so [upset…my word, not hers] how you are playing.” After the Highlanders scored again, the Dons ended the half strong by scoring the last 3 goals, one on a penalty shot from Grace Colaco, another on a great play where Emily Roberts had a steal and converted on a penalty shot, and the last on a pass from Catalina Liu to Grace Colaco that she was able to convert as the buzzer sounded. The score was 4-3 Dons at halftime.
The second half was a back and forth affair. Emily Roberts had a great catch on a high pass, ran downfield, and passed to Catalina Liu for a goal, and Ella Thomason had an assist to Jenna Steele for a goal. The Highlanders managed to stay within 1 goal on a nice pick play early in the quarter, and then a second goal with 3.5 seconds left in the quarter. In the fourth quarter, Emily Roberts scored a goal early. After that goal, Grace Imrie channeled her inner Michael Jordan and took the game over. She first scored accidentally on a pass that somehow managed to find its way into the back of the goal, and then scored on two penalty shots, including a golden goal in overtime that sealed the win for the Dons!
Please come out to cheer on the girls as they return home to take on Northgate tomorrow (3/8) at 7pm
P.S. Big shout-out to Kristi Ives for taking these great photos! Additional photos can be found here: https://go.teamsnap.com/8816857/files