Cougars roll past Whippets

DOWNINGTOWN » Fans of conventional wisdom were left feeling confused and disappointed Tuesday night. It would figure that a girls lacrosse game between Downingtown West and East would be a close, tense affair, but a sterling first half from East left that belief standing on its head.

The Cougars scored the game’s first nine goals en route to a surprisingly comfortable 14-7 victory over neighborhood rival Whippets. The win moved D-East to a 9-2 record in the Ches-Mont League National Division (10-5 overall) and extended its league lead over D-West (7-3, 9-3) and Bishop Shanahan.

The Cougars were looking to bounce back from a loss to West Chester Rustin on Thursday, and did so in spectactular fashion.

“We came out kind of fired up for this tonight,” said Downingtown East coach Kelli McIntosh. “This is a big rivalry game for us. We wanted to push the fast break a little more, which was lacking againast Rustin. Our girls did exactly that. They found the net early and often.”

East started on that road almost immediately, they won the

opening faceoff and cashed in as Nicole Prendergast scored 14 seconds into the game.

A key for the Cougars was possession. Through draw control or violation, they won the first six draws -- all of them resulting in goals.

“We were all over the draw. We came up with all but three draws in the first half and when we push the ball and find the back of the net, it is hard for them to come back,” added McIntosh.

Two straight goals from sophomore Lexie Conte pushed the lead to 3-0 and forced the Whippets into taking a timeout. The break, however, did not slow down East, Macenzie Haragos scored coming out of the stoppage to make it 4-0.

“We really wanted this, especially coming off the loss to Rustin - this and Shanahan are the two games we really wanted to win,” said Conte.

When sophomore midfielder Sofia Fanelli scored her second goal in a little over a minute, the advantage ballooned to 9-0.

Autumn Blair scored off a free postion from close in with 14:32 left to put the Whippets on the board. Lauren Tinson scored immediately to make it 9-2, but East put comeback thoughts on ice by scoring three of the last four goals in the half to take a commanding 12-3 lead into halftime.

“Our offense was spread out today and we worked together very well,” added Conte. “We did well adjusting and that was an issue we had against Rustin.”

The Cougars were held to two goals in the second half, but West couldn’t get on any type of a meaningful run to take a big bite out of the lead.

“Our defense is very strong. We play really strong 1 v. 1 defense, but they also communicate well and slide well,” said McIntosh. “We’re a hard defense to score to score on when the energy is right and we have the momentum.” Conte led the way with a game-high four goals, Fanelli had three and Hewitt and Prendergast added two goals apiece. Jordan Higgins (three saves) and Addy Mulhern (three saves) combined for six saves, a couple of them at key times to stifle the Whippets’ rally.

Downingtown West will attempt to bounce back Thursday by hosting Kennett. The Cougars will entertain Villa Maria in a nonleague clash Friday.