Conneaut defeats Meadville in season finale
May 18—Conneaut defeated Meadville 18-1 in Friday's Region 1 girls lacrosse game at Bender Field. The Eagles stayed tough on offense to pull out a big win. Meadville, however, is looking toward the future of the sport with positivity.
The Eagles finished off the season strong, with Katie Gillette and Lana Johnston leading the way for the offense. Gillette and Johnson both scored hat tricks. Abigail Mozina, Victoria Medrick, Payton Luce, Camille Turner and Helena Yohn all scored one goal each. Kaylee Greely tallied two goals as well.
"We came out coming off a really big game on Wednesday against McDowell," said Conneaut head coach Sarah Kelly. "We just had a lot of fun. We had a lot of new players score today. It's also really exciting to welcome a new team to the district."
Conneaut controlled the pace of the game through offense, finding holes in the Meadville defense to take a quick early lead. But, the Bulldogs played till the last minute, fighting for chances to get the ball and doing it with smiles all around.
"The little things," said Kelly. "They (Meadville) changed a lot with thier cohesion. You can't teach that, you just have to want it. I think their coach has a really strong head on her shoulders to lead them there."
Meadville had its fair share of chances to score and cut the lead against a program that is many years ahead of where they are now.
"It just means that the sport of lacrosse is growing in the area," said Kelly. "I'm not from the area, but it's just really great to see the sport grow. It's gonna be even more fun next year when they get more competitive, so I'm really excited for that."
Conneaut ends the regular season with a 5-1 record in Region 1 and a 6-1 record overall.
Meadville has absolutely no reason to hang its heads, and there was none of that to go around. All of the players on the field were competing and having fun doing it.
"I think we did great," said Meadville coach Frances Kennedy. "Conneaut is an extremely well rounded, athletic team, it's always going to be tough playing them. I'm really proud of how our team played tonight."
Meadville's offense was led by Sara Pifer, who scored one goal in the contest. Despite Conneaut's constant pressure, the Bulldogs stayed tough on defense, not making things easy for the Eagles. Goalie Madi Morely made key saves in the first and second half of the game to keep Conneaut's offense at bay.
"It's a completely different team," said Kennedy. "They just overall got better. On defense, offense, stick skills. They've gotten better with each individual game this year, from the first one to the last one."
Meadville ends the regular season with a 0-4 regional record and a 0-5 record overall. But there is plenty of hope for next year, and positives to be found from this one.
"I think that Meadville has needed this for a long time," said Kennedy. "Our players have been asking for this for a long. One of my players is a freshman, and she's been asking me since elementary school to play. And I think it just means the world to our female athletes to have this opportunity."
Trevor Teubner can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at trevor@meadvilletribune.com.
