RADNOR — April 18 seems like a long time ago in the Radnor girls lacrosse program.
That night, the Raptors wrapped up a fourth straight loss, a rarity for the Main Line power program, to drop to 3-4-1 on the not-so-young season.
“We were like, ‘OK this is not how Radnor plays,’” midfielder Sarah Kelley said Thursday. “And we turned it around.”
Thirty days and 10 wins later, the Raptors are one win from returning to states, after a 13-4 handling of Kennett in the second round of the District 1 Class 3A tournament. The hard-won chemistry from those early struggles turned what could’ve been a contentious 8-v-9 game between teams carrying eight-game winning streaks into a rout.
The other force doing that was goalie Arden Jansen, who No. 9 Kennett could not solve for 26 minutes. She pitched a first-half shutout with four saves. She finished with nine denials, including the 200th of her career.
By the time Kennett (14-6) finally found a way past her, Radnor (13-5-1) was eight goals in front.
“It’s so impressive,” Kelley said of her goalie. “I don’t know how she does it. She’s able to get in their heads.”
“It’s definitely tough,” Kennett junior Mary Carroll said. “Our attackers, we had a thing going that was working for us all season, and we figured out that in the first half, that wasn’t going to work and we had to switch it up.”
It wasn’t all Jansen, though she was spectacular. Her fourth save of the opening half was a kick save (and a beauty) on Megan Ward with 13 minutes left and the Raptors up by only 3-0. Her defense didn’t permit Kennett another look until early in the second half, a free-position shot that Jansen duly turned aside. Jansen added a massive interception, pouncing out of her crease with Radnor down a player late in the opening half.
“I give all the credit in the world to the defense,” Jansen said. “They absolutely killed it. They forced some really low-angle shots for me and had some amazing caused turnovers. They did awesome today.”
Kennett didn’t get on the board until Carroll, a junior defender and Northwestern commit, hopped into the attack in the second half. She scored twice, as did Ward. But with Radnor splitting the draws evenly and forcing its share of turnovers, there was no way back into the game.
The Raptors had the more aggressive start. Kelley and Taylor Murphy each had first-half hat tricks. Kelley’s speed in the open field, to go with a team-high four draw controls, was something Kennett couldn’t match. When they shifted Carroll her way, Murphy tallied a natural hat trick late in the first half, capped with 2:06 left before half on a scooped ground ball she dunked home.
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Radnor goalie Arden Jansen makes a save in the second half of a District 1 Class 3A win over Kennett, 13-4, Thursday. (PETE BANNAN-DAILY TIMES)
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