WILMINGTON – Youth was served on May 18 at Abessinio Stadium. Padua’s freshmen trio of Caroline Meko, Emily Hill and Gabby Getz combined for 12 goals as the Pandas powered past Odessa 19-5, in the first round of the DIAA girls lacrosse tournament.
Padua, the ninth seed, will travel to Sussex Academy for a quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. The Seahawks are the eighth seed. The teams did not meet this season.
It took a few minutes for the Pandas to settle in, but once they did, the goals came quickly, and save for a short offensive outburst for the No. 16 Ducks, it was all Padua. A fourth freshman, Grace Spinelli, got the scoring started four and a half minutes into the game when she moved to the front of the net, took a pass and bounced it in.
Meko (St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother, Avondale, Pa.) got her first on an eight-meter opportunity, also shooting low, She took advantage of a ground ball win by the Pandas to make it 3-0, and Getz (Immaculate Conception, Elkton, Md.) got in on the scoring after a draw control by Padua. Odessa’s goalie made a few huge saves to hold the Pandas to four goals in the first.
Hill (St. Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother, Avondale, Pa.) was next up, adding the Pandas’ fifth at the 10:16 mark of the second. After that, however, Odessa was finally able to solve the Padua defense and goalie Cassidy Cordery.
Kendall Gustafson was first up for the Ducks, converting an eight-meter chance. After a Ducks save, a counterattack led to a wraparound goal for Julie Hackett. Several minutes later, Odessa took advantage of another eight-meter opportunity, this time by Rory Whitehouse. Suddenly, the Pandas’ lead was just 5-3.
Padua controlled the majority of the draws on the evening, including the one after the Ducks’ third goal. It took just 15 seconds after Whitehouse scored for the Pandas to answer. Meko sent a scoop shot through the crease and into the net. That started a wave of Pandas offense. They added four more goals before halftime, including two in the final minute, to take a 10-3 lead into the break.
The Pandas scored the first three of the second half and held Odessa to one goal in both the third and fourth quarters.
Padua improved to 15-1. Odessa, the Blue Hen Conference Flight A champion, finished the season 10-6.
Photos by Mike Lang.
