Green Hope High School Lady Falcons Lacrosse

April 22
Green Hope Falcons Prevail Over Hard-Fighting Cary Imps, 14-5

They came expecting a tough battle. Things weren't so bad at first, but then the attacks started. Merciless pounding was interrupted at times with reprieves that allowed them to relax a little. In the end, the weather won out, distracting the rain-soaked fans from the game. The Cary Imps didn't fare much better.

With dark rain clouds looming in the horizon, no anthem was played and no introductions were made. A running clock game was declared. And just as quickly as the game started, Green Hope put 3 points on the board. After a missed attempt by Deirdre O'Connor, Brittany Ruppert took the rebound and connected to Kelly Reiser for the first point. Kay Kay Keung ran the next one in after taking a pass from Kelly Reiser from the draw. Rachel Chapla's interception connected to Alannah Garcia for a spin and shoot. Elba Olivero blocked a couple of passes, the Cary goalie ("Hey, I want to be a field player, too!") advanced all the way to the half-field mark eliciting cheers even from Falcon fans, Cheryl Schlitter made a save, and Christina Demetros blocked a runner before the Imps scored their first point. But the Falcons attacked back with three more points. Logan Kaznowski's pass to Ruppert ended in the cage. Kelsey Collins made good on a penalty. Allie Klavik, scooping up a ground ball, attempted to pass to Colleen Brophy in front of the cage. Brophy assisted by stepping aside and allowed the ball to hit the net instead. The Imps answered back with a quick point from the draw when Schlitter slipped in the muddy cage.

As the field turned soggier and the rain poured down on players and fans alike, slippery conditions made for quite a few ground ball battles. Chapla and Nicole Nisbet gave the Imps a devilish time, winning out on ground balls. Ruppert made the next point from a pass from Hagen Donahue. Kelly Bristow and Priscilla Lin blocked a runner, but couldn't stop the next Imp point attempt. Taylor George showed good hustle battling (and winning) ground ball tussles, and Ali Brown and Mandy Blackburn formed an impenetrable wall. Shot attempts were made by Collins and Garcia, but Donahue's quick stick at the crease from a pass from George put the next one in. On the next draw, a nice transition from Chapla to Collins ended with Ruppert shoving one in from the side with just 8.4 seconds left on the clock.

Casey "wrong way" Reiser started the second half from the draw momentarily losing her way before a fast U-turn put her back on track. The Imps quickly got the ball back on a forced turnover and scored on a penalty. But the Falcons continued their scoring run. Chapla on a pass from Ruppert put another point on the board. Demetros, on penalty, shot to the upper right and scored. Chapla put another one in on a bounce shot. After forcing a turnover, Kaznowski put one in from the 8 meter. Olivero took just two steps after catching a pass from Collins to score her first Green Hope point. (Great job, Elba!)

With almost 15 minutes left in the game, both the Imps and the Falcons fought each other as well as the weather. No more points were made, but not for lack of trying. Donahue, Olivero and Dana Josephson all made shot attempts. Danielle Johnson played good defense. Nisbet forced an Imp out of bound, Brophy, Bristow and Jenna Lang won out on some hard-fought ground ball tussles, and Katie Worsdale warded off several wet shots.

Editor's note: My apologies if there are any mistakes... my rain-soaked notes were a little hard to read...

Contributed by Ri-Shea Schlitter