CLAYMONT – Three minutes and five seconds into Archmere’s girls lacrosse matchup with Caesar Rodney on April 1, the visiting Riders had a 2-0 lead. But the Auks may have been playing an April Fools joke on CR, as they scored the next 13 goals and won, 14-3, going away.
Lillian Ayers opened the scoring for Caesar Rodney, converting on a free-position play 57 seconds after the game started. The Auks were turned away twice by Riders keeper Sarah Gates before Jessica Crawford came from behind the net and beat Archmere’s Maura Smeader low to double the advantage. That would be it for the Riders until late in the contest.
In between, the Auks were dominant. They played two different games – pouring on the offense until the lead was comfortable, then keeping the ball away from their foes for long stretches of time. Archmere’s control of the face-offs and ground balls led to one scoring opportunity after another, and they took full advantage.
Lauren Ross scored the Auks’ first goal, driving down the right side and going to the far side of the net at the 20:54 mark. Forty seconds later, Kate Olsen scored on a free-position opportunity, and Alex Harrington used another one to put the hosts on top with 18:40 on the clock. Harrington set up the Auks’ next goal with a steal, with Caroline Donovan finishing the sequence by working herself free in front of Gates and scoring low.
After Donovan scored again, Harrington, a freshman, went to work. She picked up the ensuing face-off, took off down the right side and scored from the edge of the circle 15 seconds after Donovan. That made the score 6-2.
Smeader kept the Riders off the board with two saves in quick succession, one a nice kick save, the other on a free-position shot. Archmere scored four more times before the half. Ross hit from a sharp angle, and Olsen deked two defenders to get free for her second. Harrington and Donovan added markers to make it 10-2 at the half.
Archmere added two more early in the second before turning to clock-eating mode. The Auks burned approximately five minutes before Lindsey Nolen cashed in. The Riders did get some offense with about 10 minutes to go, and Graycie Bachman scored the team’s third goal after a field-long run, a few spins and a shot low.
Donovan led the way with four goals for the Auks, while Harrington and Olsen each notched hat tricks. Smeader had six saves. The Auks (3-0) travel to Red Lion for a 4 p.m. matchup on Wednesday.
For the Riders, Gates finished with four saves. CR (1-2) returns home for a meeting with Sussex Academy on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
