By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 7/2/15
MIDLOTHIAN, Va. – Pennsylvania goalie Mia Tornetta knew she had to guess correctly when she realized New York’s Bridget Flynn was awarded a free position with one second left in the game and PA leading 7-6 in a first-place game Wednesday at the Bring National Lacrosse Classic.
PA’s Mia Tornetta (Great Valley)
So Tornetta figured Flynn would shoot low – and she was right.
“I know New York likes shooting low because I had watched them play and they always shot low and since this was a game-winning play I figured they would probably shoot low,” said Tornetta, a 2017 from Great Valley. “I was lucky they did. It just got my stick and I was so happy when I saw the ball roll forward and not backwards.”
The victory gave PA a perfect 4-0 mark in Pool play and the Pool A top seed. PA meets the winner of Long Island (3-1) and Georgia (2-2) in the semifinals at 10:15 a.m.
In the win over New York, PA led, 5-3, early in the second half, but allowed three straight goals before regrouping. Macal Mellor (Penn Charter, 2017 MF) tied it off a feed from Linnea Hughes (Great Valley, 2016 ATT) with five minutes to play and Ana Emrick (Parkland, 2016 MF) got the game-winner with a minute to play.
“Our coach, (co-coach) Kelli Romano, said we have that fire in our belly” said Tornetta, “We have PA pride and we want to show it to everybody.
“We feel really confident, but we know we have a lot of roadblocks ahead. We know the other pool is tough in the crossover so that will be tough.”
PA also handed Colorado a 13-3 defeat Wednesday. Hughes scored three goals while Emrick, Mellor Daria Lucchesi (Methacton, 2017 MF) and Natalie Kahn (Great Valley, 2017 ATT) each had a pair.
“We do better when we settle the ball,” said Tornetta. “We are better when we’re not rushing the ball.”
“We just learned to glue with each other and we have so much talent,” added Maddie Major (Villa Joseph Marie, 2017 MF), who was elected to the All-Star Team and had two goals in the game. “Our coaches said we have only made it to the semifinals, so the goal is to go firther and hopefully win it all.”
Middle School Academy Girls
The PA Middle School Academy girls also went undefeated in Pool play with a 4-0 mark to tie with Long Island atop the division. PA meets Pool B champion New Jersey (3-0-1) at 9:30 a.m. in the semifinals.
2018 Boys
The PA 2018 boys finished second in Pool C with a 3-1 mark and plays Pool A runner-up Long Island at 8:45 a.m. in the first round of the playoffs. Pool B runner-up New Jersey plays Pool B champion Maryland in the first round at 8:45.
In PA’s 9-2 win over Georgia on Wednesday, JT Hower (Unionville, MF) had three goals and Andrew Albertson (Parklanmd, MF) had a pair. Daniel Falzone (Shawnee, NJ) had five saves and Owen Rogers (Unionville) had three saves for PA.
2018 Girls
Pool B champion New Jersey (30) faces Pool A runner-up Long Island in the semifinals at 10:15.