St. John's girls lacrosse heads to IAAM B final, hoping for ‘happy tears’
Saturday evening figures to be a pretty emotional time for the St. John’s Catholic Prep girls lacrosse team.
The defending champion Vikings will not only be facing Gerstell Academy in the IAAM B Conference championship game at the USA Lacrosse headquarters in Sparks at 7:30 p.m.
But it will also be the final time that the team’s eight seniors will share the field after years of playing club and high school lacrosse together.
“Crying. Sobbing. Lot of tears,” one of the seniors, Addison Scanlon, said when asked what the scene will be like emotionally Saturday, win or lose. “Hopefully, it’s lots of happy tears.”
St. John’s Catholic Prep advanced to its second straight IAAM B title game Wednesday by beating the team it took down for the championship last season, Park School.
After a jittery first half that saw the Vikings cling to a one-goal lead at halftime, they relaxed in the second half and broke the game open against a team they beat comfortably twice during the regular season. The final score of this game was 16-7 in the MIAA B semifinals.
“I think we needed to settle down and play the lacrosse that we know how to play,” said senior midfielder Maya Graham, who finished with four goals. “Just work the ball around. I feel like it was rushed in the beginning. Once we settled in, we were able to pull away.”
Senior Emelia Tippett got the Vikings (14-5) started less than a minute into the second half by flipping an underhanded shot into the net while dashing across the Park School goal mouth.
Less than a minute later, Isabelle Piraino made a pass from behind the goal to Graham, who one-timed it in from right out in front.
And the Vikings were off. They scored four goals in the first four minutes of the third quarter and eight in the period overall, while holding Park School scoreless.
Junior Rylan Piccolo was right there when the ball popped out of the stick of Park School goalie Ella Rubin, and Piccolo immediately cashed in for a slam-dunk goal as part of the third-quarter rally.
“It’s been a lot [to deal with],” Scanlon said. “We know we have a target on our back [as defending champions]. This is our last year all together. We want to end on a high note.”
It will not be easy against Gerstell, a team that beat St. John’s in a pair of close games this season, including a one-goal game on April 26.
The Vikings believe they are up for the task, and that a favorable bounce or a good break could tip the outcome in their favor in Saturday’s championship game.
“We have to play good, fundamental lacrosse and not let the pressure get to us, especially in transition,” Graham said. “They have a left-handed goalie. We are not used to that. We are going to do our best to adjust to that, and hopefully we’ll come up with a win.”
Graham added that there would be no better way for this group of seniors to close the books on their high school careers.
