MVP Geiger leads Easton
Red Rovers top second-seeded Emmaus 10-5 to take title
The Eastern Pennsylvania Conference girls lacrosse Most Valuable Player delivered an MVP-worthy performance in Thursday evening’s conference championship clash.
Easton senior Lindsay Geiger totaled three goals and three assists as coach Michelle Mihalko’s unbeaten Red Rovers doubled up second-seeded Emmaus, 10-5, at Northampton’s Al Erdosy Stadium.
The EPC title was the second for Easton in three seasons (and four years).
The Emmaus-Central Catholic boys championship game ended too late for this edition.
Geiger, who also starred for the Red Rovers’ soccer team, scored a goal and assisted on two others as No. 1 seed Easton opened a 3-1 halftime lead. She then scored two goals and assisted on another during the opening 10-plus minutes of the second half.
The Red Rovers (15-0) led 9-2 before Emmaus scored three straight over the final seven minutes.
“Lindsay’s an absolute beast,”
Mihalko said of her 12th-grade captain. “She sets the tone for us in all aspects, whether we’re on the sideline, on the attack, or on defense. She’s just ready to go all the time. Her intensity sets the tone for all of us, and she does it with composure.”
“For sure, there was pressure,” Geiger acknowledged. “You think to yourself, ‘Oh God, I’m the MVP.’ It was a great personal accomplishment but winning with my team is the greatest accomplishment.”
Geiger was great. And as a team, the Red Rovers played an all-around great game.
Defensively, Easton limited an Emmaus team that entered averaging 15.5 goals per game to 10 fewer than that total. The Red Rovers also cut the number they allowed in the first matchup vs. the Green Hornets — a 13-10 Easton win — in half.
Mihalko credited defenders Alicia Rodriguez and Eran Gleason for spearheading the effort, along with goalie Kylee Hager, who registered 10 saves.
“Our defensive players really are our unsung heroes,” said Mihalko, who started the girls program at Easton in 2009. “We played really clean defense and that’s what we’ve been working on. We’ve very aggressive but we toned it down a little bit and it worked out.” Easton never trailed in the EPC final. Morgan, a freshman, scored first off a feed from Geiger with 17:14 left in the opening half before Emmaus (17-2) tied the contest at 1 with 13:13 remaining before halftime when Julia Cote scored her first of two goals. Easton then opened a 3-1 lead at intermission.
Geiger and the Red Rovers took control in the second half.
“I think everyone showed up,” said Geiger, a midfielder. “Emmaus showed up. We showed up. Emmaus is great competition and it was a fun game. I love these types of games.”
Morgan contributed three goals for Easton, while the Krieger sisters — Lea and Reese — scored two each.
“I think we came out ready to win,” said Geiger, an EPC all-Northampton Division performer in soccer. “We were prepared for this. We want to win districts, we want to be successful in states, and this was a big step toward our goals. We’re very happy right now.”
Green Hornets coach Roxann Betz was pleased with her team’s play late in the contest but disappointed in the disparity in fouls and yellow cards. (Emmaus was called for four yellow cards.)
“I think defensively, both ways, it was a very tight game,” Betz said. “Congrats to Easton for the game they played. The first half, I think it was a battle of defenses. I thought our attack needed to change it up a little and we did do that in the second half.
“The fouls were what hurt us today. I thought it was very lopsided on fouls and we were very disappointed with that. We played the best game that we could.”
With the win, Easton clinched the No. 1 seed for the District 11 Class 3A tournament, which commences next week with quarterfinal-round action. Emmaus will be seeded second.