Robitzer shines in goal for Unionville

Nothing says a team is ready for the district playoffs like a superlative effort from its goalie. The Unionville girls lacrosse team got exactly that from Mattie Robitzer in their regularseason finale against Downingtown East on Thursday.

Robitzer made 19 saves as the Longhorns erased a first-half deficit en route to a 10-7 Ches-Mont League victory.

“My defense did a great job keeping them to the outside,” said Robitzer. “I don’t know, something just clicked this game, I could see them really well, I guess. They were hitting me in the right spots.”

The Longhorns (14-4, 10-2 league) clinched the American Division Tuesday with Kennett’s one-goal loss to the Cougars and with nothing tangible to play for, tried to be loose and fancy free before the game.

“We tried to come in with an energy and a looseness that really wasn’t there. We were faking in,” said Unionville coach Tara Brown. “We were having a hard time connecting with each other, jelling, being positive with each

other. It took halftime to say, ‘Let’s have fun. This is lacrosse, We’re here to have fun.’”

They had a team dance party before the game, but it didn’t help them get out of the blocks quickly. East jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game. Amanda Wolfe stopped the run with 17:47 to go to cut it to 3-1.

Midfielder Delaney Hardin got it to 4-2 with 12:24 left. The Longhorns trailed, 5-2, before tallying three times to the score at 5-5 with 3:21 to play.

The Cougars got on the board with 2:19 left to take a 6-5 lead into halftime.

“We played a strong game. I would say what changed the game was their goalie made 19 saves,” said East coach Kelli McIntosh. “I thought we had some good looks, she just came up with some key saves.”

The defense tightened up for the Longhorns as some turnovers, combined with the play of Robitzer, kept East off the board until late in the half. Lilly Robitzer scored to give Unionville the lead for good at 7-6 with 13:31 left.

The advantage was cut to 9-7 with 4:35 to play. Robitzer made one final save and Unionville held the ball for most of the remaining time. Sage Temple fired in a shot with 14 seconds left to close out the scoring.

Unionville is expected to have a first-round by in the 3A playoffs beginning next week, and host a secondround game.

Downingtown East completes its season at 9-3 and 13-5, finishing second behind Bishop Shanahan in the National.