Kennett knocks off 13th-seeded Spring-Ford

ROYERSFORD >> Bad games, or “off-nights” as many athletes call them, are a part of sports.

You just hope they don’t strike at the wrong time. An off-night in the preseason or regular season can be overcome; but an offnight for a lacrosse team in May can be fatal.

On Tuesday night, SpringFord’s girls’ team found out just how dangerous one bad half can be, as they fell behind visiting No. 20 Kennett early and couldn’t recover, their season coming to an end in a 13-11 loss.

Claire Borman led the visiting Blue Demons with four goals as Kennett (13-6) made the long trip to Royersford to advance to Thursday’s second round, where they’ll face Ches-Mont rival No. 4

Downingtown West.

“This is our first win in districts in a long, long time,” said coach Lisa Daugherty. “We came to play tonight.”

Lily Sandusky and Madeline Fowler also contributed hat tricks for the victorious Blue Demons. Goalie Sydney Heimann had six saves, the last of which put a stop to No. 13 Spring-Ford’s comeback effort.

“They were definitely playing like they wanted it more,” said Spring-Ford’s coach Kristi Holstein, who saw her first season at the helm come to a premature end. “At halftime, we got focused, talked about our goals and how we weren’t finished. I think it showed in our play after halftime.”

Borman scored the first two of her goals as the Blue Demons put together a 3-1 lead in the first eight minutes of the contest. SF cut the lead in half on Liv Yeagle’s goal at 15:29, which featured a feed from senior Jill Quigley — Quigley’s 100th career assist. But Borman completed her hat trick early, giving Kennett a 6-2 advantage at 13:22 of the half.

Cassie Marte’s consecutive goals brought SF back

within two, but they would be SF’s final tallies of the half. Kennett ended on a 4-0 run, Borman adding a fourth score and Fowler finishing a hat trick of her own to send the visitors into the break up by a halfdozen goals.

“We had it burning in our bellies,” said Daugherty. “We haven’t been to districts in four years, and we had nothing to lose. We took the opportunity, kept driving and played to the best of our ability.”

As the second half began, Kennett’s focus changed to maintaining possession and working the clock, as the Blue Demons worked for high-percentage shots but struggled to find them. The Rams rallied to within two on a five-goal run highlighted by Cassie Marte’s third goal on an eight-meter shot at 17:35.

Yeagle completed her own hat trick at 7:55 to bring SF within 12-10 and end a nine-minute goalless drought for the Rams. After a quick exchange of tallies, Kennett’s Sydney Heimann made her biggest save of the night with about five minutes remaining to keep the Blue Demons’ lead at two.

Kennett was able to waste time from that point, holding the ball for all but 16 seconds of the last five minutes and salting away their big victory.

“When Sydney made that save, it just shifted the momentum,” said Borman. “It made us realize how far we’d all come, and that victory was really within reach.”

“In that situation, we’re hoping they make a mistake,” admitted Holstein.

Spring-Ford’s campaign comes to an end at a mark of 13-6, the team’s highlight coming in making the Pioneer Athletic Conference championship game last week. Liv Yeagle led the way with four goals on Tuesday, with Marte adding three tallies and an assist.

Coach Kristi Holstein says she’ll remember the outgoing seniors as a group who made her first year as a head coach much easier.

“I’ll really miss them next year,” she said. “As a first-year coach, it was so valuable to have a group that was open to change and willing to try new things. They set the tone for the entire program.”

As for Kennett, while it might seem anything after the first district win in years would be icing on the cake, Borman insists that’s not the case for this group.

“Every girl here is dying to go further,” she said. “We’ve played Downingtown West before and lost, but we’re determined to show everyone what we are capable of doing.”