St. Andrew's pulls away in girls lacrosse opener

St. Andrew’s Louisa Belk (left) moves in front of the Ursuline net as Raider Moira Carroll defends in the second half of St. Andrew’s 12-8 win against Ursuline in the first round of the DIAA high school tournament Friday.

GREENVILLE – The St. Andrew’s girls lacrosse team found a shady spot in the far corner of Serviam Field for a halftime talk on Friday, after Ursuline had just taken the lead with a three-goal burst.

Scrambling for a loose ball are Ursuline’s Janet Schmeusser (left) and Erin O’Doherty (right) with St. Andrew’s (from second from left) Neely Egan, Louisa Belk and Hanna Soulati in the second half of St. Andrew’s 12-8 win against Ursuline in the first round of the DIAA high school tournament Friday.

Saints coach Jen McGowan told her team to ratchet up the defense, and they listened. St. Andrew’s took control in the second half and pulled away to a 12-8 victory in the opening round of the DIAA Girls Lacrosse Tournament.

“We definitely talked at halftime about being an attacking defense,” McGowan said. “I think we were playing a little passively. The ball would get on the ground, and we would wait for them to pick it up. In the second half, we were going for any ground ball.”

The ninth-seeded Saints (11-5) picked it up and earned a trip to top-seeded Cape Henlopen in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The seven-time defending state champion Vikings have a 96-game in-state winning streak, including a 17-6 victory over St. Andrew’s last Monday.

But the Saints were the last Delaware opponent to beat Cape, 13-12 on May 2, 2009.

“I think we’re ready to come to them with fire in our bellies,” said St. Andrew’s senior Louisa Belk, who scored four goals Friday. “We’re the underdog, so we’ve got nothing to lose.”

Eighth-seeded Ursuline (9-6) erased a 4-2 deficit late in the first half. Jane Lyons converted on a strong run, Janet Schmeusser scored on a rebound with 26.3 seconds left, and Schmeusser passed to Erin O’Doherty for a goal with 0.3 of a second to play to push the Raiders ahead 5-4.

St. Mark’s top seed in DIAA baseball
State track meet gets off to fast start

But the second half was a different story. Hanna Soulati and Belk scored off of free positions, and Soulati looped to her left for another goal to give St. Andrew’s a 7-5 lead.

“Our whole team just settled it down,” Soulati said. “We were more confident, and that helps everybody individually.”

Lyons answered for the Raiders, but the Saints responded with five straight goals. Elisa Davila zigzagged for a score, Neely Egan converted a free position and two big saves by St. Andrew’s goalkeeper Anna Gillespie set up goals by Reagan Meyer and Belk on the other end. Then Soulati weaved in to make it 12-6 with 9:01 to play.

“We just started making better decisions, and our girls had a bit more confidence going to goal,” McGowan said.

Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @BradMyersTNJ.