Girls lacrosse: Teagan Ryan scores 7 times as Somers upends Hen Hud heading into playoffs

SOMERS — Teagan Ryan knows Madison Porter.

She's a teammate of hers and of Ryan's fellow Somers Tuskers, Lauren McCartin, Sydney Ingraham, Molly Fink and Mia Pauleno.

But Thursday, they were wearing different jerseys.

And, in this match of friends who temporarily were foes, Ryan and her fellow Tuskers got the upper hand.

Ryan, in particular.

The Somers senior got seven goals past Porter, her Prime Time Lacrosse club teammate and Hen Hud's senior goalie, as Somers defeated Hen Hud 12-7 just 48 hours after Hen Hud went to triple overtime to defeat John Jay-Cross River, the area's top-ranked girls lacrosse team.

"We definitely knew she was a great goalie. We worked during practice on 'Fake, fake, fake, fake. Shoot low," Ryan said of her team's approach to facing Porter.

What it means

Thursday's contest was the last regular-season game for both teams with Section 1 playoff seedings scheduled to be determined. Friday.

The game left both teams with 10-6 records and Class C in a bit of a muddle.

But whatever seedings hurdles Section 1 officials will face Friday in determining who belongs where, wasn't on Ryan's mind Thursday.

Rather, her focus was on her team, which, after being slow to get out of the blocks this season, won seven of its eight final regular-season games, its one loss coming by four goals to John Jay-CR.

Player of the game

Of course, the odds are pretty good Somers would not have won Thursday's game if not for the University of Colorado commit's play.

A little more than four minutes into the game, Somers trailed the Sailors 2-1 when Ryan netted her first goal to tie things, taking a feed from Ingraham and, yes, faking high before beating Porter low.

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By the numbers

Ryan wasn't the only Prime Time teammate of Porter's to sometimes get the best of her.

McCartin scored twice, including the game's first goal. Her second, off a hard, low shot, put Somers up 4-2.

She would have had another goal but in one of the peculiarities of girls lacrosse, had a goal taken away because a defender committed an infraction by getting into McCartin's shooting space. She was awarded an 8-meter free shot but Porter stooped it.

McCartin also had multiple other big moments, including beating Hen Hud to a loose ball (one of three McCartin got) with little more than three minutes left in the first half. That led to a Ryan goal that put Somers up 7-2, a cushion it ended up needing as Hen Hud came roaring back to make it 7-4 at the half and 7-6 early in the second half.

Prior to McCartin's fourth goal, McCartin spun inside away from Sailor defenders and fed Ingraham, who scored high right to put the Tuskers up 3-2.

Ingraham also had an assist to Ryan on Somers' last goal.

Pauleno scored Somers' fifth goal on an eight-meter bouncer.

And Fink might not have scored but she played a huge role in the win with four assists.

On one, passing from behind the net, she hit Ryan on a bang-bang, catch-and-shoot play that left Porter with practically zero chance of making the save. That was Somers' sixth goal.

And with Somers clinging to that 7-6 lead early in the second half, it was Fink again, who fed Ryan for a score.

Another Fink-to-Ryan combo gave Somers a 9-7 lead with 10:36 to play. And Fink hit her again little more than five minutes later to give Somers an 11-7 cushion.

Somers' 10th goal, scored by Maria Parisi with 7:14 left, was huge.

Parisi knocked the ball from Porter's stick up the field as Hen Hud utilized Porter's versatility by having her, as it often does, become an offensive weapon by moving the ball.

Parisi then scooped up the ball and won the race to the goal against Porter, who hadn't seen Parisi before Parisi knocked the ball from her.

Ella Lassen also recorded an assist for Somers and Fink got four balls off the draw, McCartin got three off the draw and Ingraham, who forced Hen Hud to turn the ball over twice, got one ball off the draw.

Paige Montgomery had a six-point game for Hen Hud with four goals and two assists. She netted the Sailors' first two goals, her second coming after her initial shot hit the post but she got the rebound.

Audrey Bakker scored Hen Hud's third and fourth goals, cutting to net and quickly shooting off strong feeds from Gianna Gagliardi (who had two assists) and Montgomery.

And Caitlin Pignataro scored what proved to be Hen Hud's final goal with 12:22 left to play That drew the Sailors to within one at 8-7 and followed a gem of a save by Porter on a Ryan chance from in close.

Porter, who also picked off two passes by her net, had an even more stunning save a couple of minutes later.

Porter, who Ryan remarked "just appears out of nowhere sometimes," went to one side of her net, almost behind it in a failed attempt to intercept a pass. Then scrambling back to protect her wide-open net, as the pass came out in front, Porter managed to stretch her stick far enough to deflect the ensuing shot away.

While not tested as often and not as involved in plays outside her net, Somers goalie Campbell Sternberg was strong.

Sternberg, who has more than 150 saves on the season, stopped a couple of 8-meter chances and two other high-percentage shots, grabbed two loose balls and took the ball away from a Hen Hud player, who was right on her doorstep.

They said it

Hen Hud coach Rob Molfetta was so into the game that he fell on all fours in disbelief when, trailing 9-7, his team wasted a beautiful Porter interception, throwing the ball away after it had advanced into its offensive zone.

Malfetta said his team has been able to beat more skilled teams this season through "hard work, grit and effort," but "didn't have enough energy" Thursday against a "very good team with good stick skills."

And that team wasn't afraid to risk losing the ball.

Somers was up 10-7 with little more than five minutes left in regulation. With no shot clock, the Tuskers could have done what many teams would have and played keep-away to run the clock down.

Instead, Ryan scored off a Fink feed with 5:13 to play.

"We feel like our team does better when we keep the momentum going," Ryan explained of the decision to not sit on the ball.

She also referred to Hen Hud being "very aggressive" and said Somers knew its three-goal lead could quickly vanish.

Ryan and Somers coach Deb Daly also pointed to Somers vastly improving in recent games on its play in transition, Ryan explaining players are now trusting each other and using the entire field to pass.

"We're really clicking," Daly said.

Lyle honored

And that included on defense, where one of the Tuskers' top players Thursday was senior Maddie Lyle, whose hustle to beat Hen Hud to a loose ball late in the game to get a loose ball was big in securing the win.

Earlier in the day, it was announced that the Wofford College commit had been named USA Lacrosse Magazine's Northeast Player of the Week for her play in a double-overtime win over defending state Class D champion Bronxville (Lyle caused the Bronco turnover that led to Somers' winning goal), her play in a win vs. Mahopac (which included her scoring) and her play in the close setback to John Jay-CR (including causing two Wolf turnovers).

Thursday, Lyle, who also caused a Hen Hud turnover, was part of a defensive unit that did a good job stopping the speedy Sailors from driving in on net.

Daly has seen her play, like her overall team's play, improve as the season has progressed and praised her recent disciplined approach and her ability to outlet the ball to create offense.

"She really came alive during league play. She has been really consistent and is taking it to the next level," Daly said.

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, basketball, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at @HaggertyNancy.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Girls lacrosse: Teagan Ryan has 7 goals as Somers takes down Hen Hud