GREENVILLE – Padua celebrated the three seniors who have been with its lacrosse program since it began when they were freshmen, but Ursuline was pumped up by the end of the game. Jane Lyons scored seven times as the Raiders defeated their rival, 14-7, at A.I. duPont High School.
It didn’t take long for the Raiders to get on the board, as Moira Carroll was successful on a free-position opportunity a minute into the first half. Ursuline keeper Brigid Monahan went to work after that, stoning Padua’s Rachel Delate on two good shots. Lyons began her offensive onslaught shortly thereafter, winning a ground ball, carrying it half the length of the field and beating the Pandas’ keeper high with 21:59 to go in the first.
Monahan made another stop before her teammates struck again, giving them three goals in three possessions. This goal came courtesy of Jordan Kenney.
Delate might have been stopped earlier in the game, but she picked up the assist on the Pandas’ first goal. She fed Grace DiGiovanni, who went high with 16:20 to go to make it 3-1.
The Raiders played an aggressive style and won a bunch of ground balls to keep the ball away from Padua. Lyons scored two consecutive goals to complete her first hat trick, and Katherine Shroyer added another after a nifty spin move as Ursuline opened up a 6-1 advantage.
The Pandas responded with the next two goals. Jordan Bramble scored one after a deke past a defender and assisted on the other, getting the ball to DiGiovanni, who spun past an opponent and flipped it past Monahan. Ursuline added three more before halftime, however, to take a 9-3 lead at intermission.
Riley Alexander came in to play goal for the Raiders in the second half, and she made saves on the first two shots she faced, but she could not stop Kiera McCormick with 22:40 to go. The Raiders opened up a 12-5 lead, after which they began burning time off the clock when they had the ball.
McCormick scored her second of the day with 28.4 seconds to go when she was fouled by Alexander in front of the Ursuline goal. That resulted in a free-position shot into an empty net.
The seniors honored before the game included DiGiovanni, Sarah Kunkle and Liz Hennessy. The program has gone from 4-6-1 in 2014-15 to the second round of the state tournament last season.
McCormick, Bramble and DiGiovanni each scored for the Pandas, while Delate had the other. Hennessy had five saves. Padua fell to 8-5 and wraps up the regular season on Friday back at A.I., taking on the host Tigers at 3:30 p.m.
Carroll and Caroline Knight joined Lyons with multiple goals, tallying two each, while Monahan and Alexander combined for 13 saves. The Raiders (11-2) face a stiff test Saturday, when the travel to Middletown to meet St. Andrew’s at 1 p.m.
