With a youthful offense at times trying to find its way, the No. 4 St. Paul’s girls lacrosse team struggled a bit around midseason, uncharacteristically dropping three straight games.
In Wednesday’s Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference semifinals, however, the Gators managed once again to do what they’ve turned into an annual tradition.
“Peak at the right time,” goalie Susan Radebaugh said. “Peak in May.”
With a 13-4 win over host No. 2 Maryvale, St. Paul’s will return to the A Conference championship game Friday night at USA Lacrosse in Sparks for the fourth straight year. There, the Gators will again face top-ranked McDonogh, a 10-7 winner over Archbishop Spalding, in a rematch of last year’s final.
Marleigh O’Day (Clemson), Maggie Porter (Penn State) and Riley Vasile (Southern California) scored three goals each as St. Paul’s, behind the dominant draw control of senior Kira Balis (Clemson), raced out to a 7-2 lead by blitzing Maryvale with three goals in 59 seconds near the end of the first half.
Only the strong play of Maryvale goalie Tess DeLuca (Clemson) kept the game from completely getting away in the first half.
The result was sharply different than last month’s 9-7 loss to Maryvale, when Balis was forced out of the game with two yellow cards in the first quarter.
“Kira was winning the draws, and that was huge for us,” St. Paul’s coach Mary Gagnon said. “Great momentum swing.”
The Gators (15-5) then held their lead by killing off 3:48 in man-down situations early in the third quarter, with defenders Balis and Christina King (Georgetown) time and again forcing turnovers and poor shots and Florida-bound Radebaugh stepping up in goal with six saves.
“I think it was trust,” Balis said. “We’re not just one person playing defense, it’s everyone. So we all knew we had each other’s back for the slides.”
“We’ve been working on man-down a lot in practice and we were really prepared for them,” Radebaugh said.
Maryvale (16-3), which entered the day ranked No. 8 nationally by Inside Lacrosse and No. 10 by USA Lacrosse (one spot ahead of St. Paul’s in each poll), never could gain momentum on offense, even with three extra-man opportunities.
“We looked passive all day. Just pass the ball around and not really looking to drive,” Lions coach Brian Reese said. “I’m not going to dwell on this game. I don’t think anybody thought we’d be where we were this year after losing 15 seniors last year. The girls worked hard and I’m super, super proud of them.”
Now, St. Paul’s and McDonogh will meet in the conference final for the fourth time in five seasons. A year ago, McDonogh topped the Gators, 13-8, in the title game, and has beaten them three straight times overall, including a two-goal win in last week’s regular-season finale.
The Gators, however, say the opponent this weekend won’t necessarily be the deciding factor.
“I believe in coaching that it’s always about your team,” Gagnon said. “Sure, we respect every team in here. We’ve just got to prepare. At this point in the season, it’s just bring your ‘A’ game.”
St. Paul’s 13, Maryvale 4
Goals: SP — O’Day 3, Porter 3, R. Vasile 3, Lim 2, Balis, C. Vasile; M — Kinkead, Minderlein, Mohn, Reese.
Assists: SP — Porter 2, Vaughan 2, Hoskins.
Saves: SP — Radebaugh 6; M — DeLuca 6.
Half: St. Paul’s 7-2.
