By Barry Sankey
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/18/17
Joe Tornetta and George Dick have been through these girls lacrosse wars, otherwise known as the District 1 playoffs, many times throughout the years.
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Eloise Gebert
Tornetta, the Owen J. Roberts High School head coach, and Dick, the Harriton head coach, seem to always field strong teams that often meet at some point in the district playoffs.
This season the confrontation occurred in the second round of the District One 3A playoffs Thursday at the Wildcat South upper field on the campus of Owen J. Roberts High School.
Third-seeded Owen J. Roberts took a 9-6 halftime lead and then held off the deceivingly 14th-seeded Rams, 14-10, to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal round against 11th-seeded Strath Haven (an 11-9 winner over Unionville). That game will be played back at OJR at 11 a.m.
Senior midfielder Eloise Gebert collected four goals and five draw controls and Kelsey Kilgallon had three goals and an assist while Anna Dempsey added three for the Pioneer Athletic Conference champion Wildcats (18-2).
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Mia Tornetta
“We know they (Raiders) are a strong opponent,” said Gebert. “Coach had a really good scouting report on them. We really wanted this one.”
Danika Swech provided a pair of goals and one assist as well as some key draw controls for OJR. Maddie Koury had one goal and one assist and Frankie Carroll scored once.
“Harriton coming in as the 14th seed is very deceiving,” said Tornetta. “We know how good they are. They are very good. They can beat anybody out there.”
For the Rams (13-7), Greta Stahl scored five goals and was a huge factor in Harrison’s 17-7 advantage in draw controls. Speedy Molly McDonough scored two goals and also keyed the visitors’ midfield play. Allison Schwab, Emily Stewart and Claudia Conrad each tallied one goal.
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Danika Swech
Harriton appeared to tie the game, 11-11, but Stahl was called for a dangerous propel.
“We thought it was going to be a very close game,” said Dick. “We didn’t have a real good first half.
“Then we had a dangerous call on a goal that would have tied the game, and it was the right call. They (Wildcats) are a good team. It was an awesome game; Joe and I go way back.”
Mia Tornetta (four saves) had several key saves and nice clears while also drawing several fouls by the Rams.
“Coach always tells us the first five minutes and the last five minutes of every half are most important,” said Swech. “We see where we are.”
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Kylie Cahill
OJR defenders Sydney Drumheller, Sophia Murray, Kylie Cahill and Lilly Kull also played key roles in limiting Harriton’s potent attack. Meanwhile, Anna Lavelle helped set up scoring opportunities for the hosts.
Owen J Roberts: 9 5 – 14
Harriton: 6 4 -10
OJR
Anna Dempsey 3g
Eloise Gebert 4g
Frankie Carroll 1g
Kelsey Kilgallon 3g, 1a
Maddi Koury 1g, 1a
Danika Swech 2g, 1a
Mia Tornetta 4 saves
Harriton
Greta Stahl 5g
Allison Schwab 1g
Emily Stewart 1g
Claudia Conrad 1g
Molly McDonough 2g
Devin McClain 4 saves