The Piedmont High School girls lacrosse team lost to the Lick-Wilmerding Tigers 13-6 at Witter Field on March 24.
The Highlanders were missing multiple key players.
“We lost our starting defender Jameson (Sanford), she’s out sick,” coach Carlton Chan said. “Hallie (Burden), our starting draw taker and one of our top attackers is out. It’s really hard to settle because she settles in the back, and she’s a threat in the back. Bailey (Gentemann) is out, who is one of our top defenders too. We’re shorthanded.”
Piedmont lost the first faceoff, but quickly recovered the ball. Peyton Watson took the ball downfield for a shot but was blocked. Lick-Wilmerding (6-1) recovered the ball and dashed down the field before Sabine Ryan quickly scored the first goal of the game.
“(Their defense) played with a backer,” Watson said. “If you had the ball, there was a girl on you, and if you were to beat that girl there was already another girl behind and ready for the slide.”
The Highlanders were quickly scored on again as the Tigers won the ensuing faceoff and Lilah Wilkinson ran the ball right through the defense for another goal. After losing the next faceoff once again, Mira Mathus scored on a penalty shot for the Tigers. Lick kept the pressure up, with Mathus scoring the fourth goal of the game just 12 seconds after the third.
“They play a backward defense,” Chan said. “So we were having trouble swinging it, and if you don’t have somebody who can attack from the rear, then the backer is really effective,” Chan said.
Piedmont defender Xia Snyder received a yellow card for checking Wilkinson to the head, and Wilkinson scored off the penalty shot with just under six minutes left in the quarter. The Tigers quickly followed up with their sixth goal of the game from Mathus, just over 30 seconds after.
“Their players kept flopping,” Snyder said.
The Highlanders got some traction, with Elliot Hondorp winning the faceoff for Piedmont and Watson taking the ball down for a goal. Piedmont kept the offense hot, taking multiple shots and showing clear aggression on the next possession. However, Piedmont’s defense couldn’t keep up with the offense, as Lick recovered the ball and scored again with two minutes left in the quarter. Piedmont won the next faceoff and kept its offense hot, but again lost the ball. The quarter ended with Lick-Wilmerding in front, 7-1.
“I thought I played OK,” Watson said. “Some things were out of my control because their defense was pretty solid.”
Piedmont started with some stronger defense in the second quarter. Hondorp ran the ball down the field and gave Watson a shot attempt, but Watson was blocked. Zoya Schulze recovered the ball for the Highlanders and passed to Sydney Latvala, who got a shot off but was blocked and recovered by the Tigers.
“In the second half, (the girls) learned that we work better together,” Chan said.
The Highlander’s defense couldn’t keep their fouls clean, as Wilkinson scored the Tiger’s eighth goal of the game off of a foul. However, Piedmont won the next faceoff, and Watson took the ball in for Piedmont’s second goal with just over six minutes left in the half. Viviene Nesmith recovered and scored again a minute later for Lick-Wilmerding, followed by another penalty shot by Wilkinson. Piedmont’s offense stayed aggressive, with Schulze and Watson taking multiple shot attempts. The half ended 10-2.
Piedmont started the third quarter by winning the draw and getting good offensive pressure. After losing the ball, the Tigers Naomi Coffman scored with eight minutes left in the quarter. After the Tigers followed up with another goal a minute after, the officials turned on a running clock for having a 10-point game.
“Our defense (wasn’t good) and we had waves of effort that were not consistent throughout the game,” Watson said.
Piedmont kept the offense strong by running plays and making good passes, but ultimately turned the ball over by missing opportunities. The Highlanders managed to get a stop on the next possession and assisted the ball to Latvala for their third goal. Piedmont stayed hot, with Watson scoring 10 seconds later after Hondorp won the faceoff. Piedmont won the next faceoff, but lost possession of the ball. The quarter ended with a buzzer beater by Frances Carlton for the Tigers, making it 13-4 at the break.
“We need to put in full effort throughout the game and not base our moods on if we are winning or not,” Watson said.
The fourth quarter was the slowest, with back and forth down the field for the first few minutes. Goalie Allie King managed to block one of the Tiger’s penalty shots, but Lick-Wilmerding recovered the ball. However, the defense managed to get a stop. Watson scored the first goal of the quarter with just under three minutes left, and followed up with a final goal with just over a minute.
“We did a great job in the second half,” Chan said. “We won the second half.”
Two nights later, the Highlanders pulled out an 11-10 come from behind win over Granada at Witter Field. Watson scored six goals to lead the way including the go-ahead goal with 10:03 to go in the game. Piedmont scored five consecutive goals to turn an 8-6 deficit into an 11-8 lead.
Burden and Latvala each scored twice while Hondorp scored once. Burden also had an assist.
Khloe Gubera had three goals for the Matadors while Hana Wesselmann, Taylor Bell, and Jessica Farley each scored two. Reagan Vail had the other goal. Kate Charbonneau had three assists.
All photos by Damin Esper