WILMINGTON — Padua and Wilmington Charter closed out April with a girls lacrosse game played with a few unusual occurrences. The Force broke it open in the second half and went on to a 10-4 victory.
The Pandas played with a roster containing several junior varsity players because of injuries and the unavailability of some other varsity players. Wilmington Charter, on the other hand, began the game with no goalkeeper. Padua won the opening draw, but the Force kept the Pandas from getting a shot into the empty cage.
Charter keeper Katie Houston entered the game six and a half minutes after it started. She came up with her first save two minutes later after a long Padua possession, and Houston began the Force’s next drive with an outlet pass. The drive ended at the 15:47 mark of the first half on a goal by Ella Stack.
Padua, which stretched out its possessions as much as possible, tasted success later in the half. Tatum Williams knotted the score with 7:43 left in the half on a turnaround shot.
Margaret Murphy put Charter back on top with three and a half minutes left in the first half, and the 2-1 count held at halftime.
Both keepers — Houston and Padua’s Abigail Johnson — stopped shots at the outset of the second half, and Mary Barone tied it up again, this time cutting in front of Houston and taking a pass from behind the net at the 22:53 mark.
But the Force offense found a groove after that, scoring seven times over the next 11 minutes to take a 9-2 lead. Murphy tallied four times unanswered, including on a one-timer with 19:13 remaining in the contest.
Johnson had nine saves for the Pandas, who fell to 2-6. They play Brandywine on Monday at 3:45 p.m. at the Chase Fieldhouse.
Murphy finished with a game-high five goals, and Houston saved six shots. Charter (7-3) remains at home on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. against Tatnall.
All photos by Mike Lang.