Improbable comeback lifts Radnor into state final

MIDDLETOWN >> If you took a poll with 10 minutes, 54 seconds to go in the first half of Radnor’s PIAA girls lacrosse semifinal showdown against Garnet Valley Tuesday night, few if anyone in attendance at Penncrest’s Louis Scott Field would have given the Raiders a chance to win. The situation was that dire.

Radnor trailed by six goals and many felt the game was over at the point. “Me too,” Radnor coach Brooke Fritz said. “I said, ‘Just make it close.’”

The Raiders more than made it respectable. They staged a comeback for the ages to beat the Jaguars, 10-9, to earn a spot in Saturday’s PIAA championship game against Conestoga at West Chester East High school.

Hope Smith’s free position goal with 3:09 left in the game was the difference, but the rally began when Fritz called a timeout with 10:54 left in the first half and Radnor trailing, 8-2. This was no ordinary foe, but one that had won the last two PIAA championships and four out of the last five state titles. Yet Fritz’s message to her team was simple, even though she was skeptical about victory.

“I told them to focus on the little stuff and do what we’ve done all year, and just out-grit them,” Fritz said. “We wanted it so badly. This group isn’t the most skilled group, but they’re such fighters.”

The Raiders showed their mettle by winning the District One crown despite being the ninth seed in the tournament. Radnor (20-6) knocked off top-seeded Conestoga (13-8), fourth-seeded Garnet Valley (7-6) and sixth-seeded Owen J. Roberts (12-8) to claim the district crown. Radnor’s resolve would face the ultimate test when the Jaguars (19-6-1) scored seven straight goals to turn a 2-1 deficit into what most thought was a game-deciding 8-2 lead. Sophomore Kamryn McNeal had two of her three goals in that outburst. Madi O’Brien and Emily Mathewson also scored twice in that stretch.

Yet there was no sense of panic as the Raiders gathered around Fritz during the timeout.

“We knew if we could stop their momentum, we would come back,” senior midfielder Abby Lord said. Senior Emily Games gave Radnor the lift it needed. She scored two of her three goals in the final five minutes to cut the deficit in half, 8-4.

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Radnor goalie Alexa Solomon, left, makes a stop on Garnet Valley’s Michelle Kocinski, one of several vital second-half denials. (Digital First Media/Robert J. Gurecki)