Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Unionville edges Kennett in C-M opener
Kennett gives state champ Unionville a test in tight affair
KENNETT SQUARE >> The score may surprise some, mainly because the Unionville girls lacrosse program has never had much trouble beating its archrivals from Kennett.
The visiting Indians edged the Blue Demons 7-6 on Tuesday in the Ches-Mont opener for both, and two major themes were clearly at play. First, the defending PIAA Class 3A champs from Unionville are feeling the effects of heavy graduation losses since 2018. But it’s also an indication that the Kennett program is making big strides under head coach Lisa Daugherty.
“(Kennett is) fast and challenged us defensively,” said Indians’ head coach Suzanne Sheehan. “They are getting stronger.”
The Demons (4-1 overall) had a 1510 shots on goal advantage and an even wider edge in total shots, but the Indians got off to a fast start and never allowed Kennett to take the lead. It was, ironically, Unionville’s first victory after dropping its first three outings against difficult non-league competition. A year ago, the Indians went 23-2.
“It was nice to get a win,” said sophomore attacker Shannon Garvey. “I think we needed that. Mentally, we need to know we can still win because this is a different team and our strengths are in different areas of the field now.”
Seemingly in control 7-4 with five minutes on the clock after senior Emma Malone scored off a pass from teammate Riley Glackin, Unionville had to weather one final push by the Indians. Kennett’s Emma Schwartz cut the deficit to two on a goal with 4:27 on the clock, and then Maddie Fowler sliced it to 7-6 with 46.7 seconds to go.
But on the all-important ensuing draw, the Indians’ Maddie Holt secured possession and Unionville held onto the ball until the final horn.
“This win is what we needed,” Sheehan said. “Each game we’ve learned a little more about how to play together. We are replacing a lot of seniors but we still have a lot of talent.”
Garvey is certainly one of those strong returnees, and she scored a pair of goals in the first five minutes of action to reinforce the Indians’ confidence and put some doubt into Kennett’s mind. Garvey also added another goal later in the period.
But in the final 4:46 of the first half, the Demons scored three times to pull even, with Claire Borman getting things started. Schwartz took a pass from Maddie Fowler to make it 3-2 and then Fowler scored the equalizer with 30.2 second left off a free position.
“Our intention was to come out with full intensity, and the girls did exactly that,” Daugherty said. “I think our shortfall was that we had tons of (scoring) opportunities and just couldn’t put it in the net tonight.
“There were a lot of nerves early on and we just couldn’t get ourselves settled and composed and run the offense. Once they got their heads together, we regrouped.”
Similarly, Unionville was strong early in the second half and scored three in a row -- one each by Lily Dietrich, Malone and Maddie Holt – to make it 6-3.
“Trust is key for this team and just by scoring goals, trust is created,” Garvey pointed out.
In the final nine minutes of action, Kennett finished with a 3-1 flourish, but it wasn’t quite enough.
“When (Kennett) came back in each half, we kind of got a little frantic,” Sheehan admitted.
“Our first three games have been kind of a wake-up call,” added Malone, who scored twice. “But last season we lost our first and it helped get our heads on straight.
“We lost eight seniors from that team, so it’s a whole new way of playing together.”
After it was over, Daugherty told the Indians that they need to continue to raise the level of their games, especially when it comes to taking advantage of scoring chances.
“I thought our defense did a phenomenal job,” she said. “Our goalie (Sydney Heimann) just started playing last September. Our defense kept us in this game.”