PHS Girls' Lacrosse Just Short in Upset Bid

The Star: Marin Catholic's K.C. Hill scored a game-high four goals from in front of the net. Even with Piedmont focusing its coverage on her, she was able to get seven yards in front of the goal and turn the incoming pass into another point for the Wildcats.

The Turning Point: With 12:45 left in the contest, the Wilcats put an end to the Highlanders' only lead of the game when Hill tied the score at seven. Piedmont had led for 6:30 up to that score.

Bottom Line: Marin Catholic's 19-1 record had no impact on Piedmont, who came into the contest with a comparatively pedestrian 10-6 record. The Highlanders never backed down, never gave up, and gave the Wildcats an unexpected scare.

What's Next: The Highlanders will regroup and prepare for a better 2012.

's girls' lacrosse team players (10-8) knew they would have their hands full in the North Coast Section Division II tournament semifinals. Facing top-seeded Marin Catholic High (20-1), the Highlanders would need their A-game in order to move on to the title contest.

Piedmont arguably delivered its best performance of the season, but still fell to Marin Catholic, 8-7, Wednesday evening on the Wildcats' home field.

With under six minutes remaining in the contest, the two teams were tied at seven, and the intensity was building with every passing second. Fans of both sides got louder with every change of possession.

Soon after the six-minute mark, the Wildcats got what they needed when Sara Pedlar streaked towards Highlander netminder Ollie Ramsey and slid the ball just past her for the go-ahead score.

After Marin Catholic controlled the ensuing face-off, Piedmont touched the ball twice—once knocking the ball out of bounds, and another time in an errant attempt to pick up a loose ball.

The Wildcats finished the game playing "keep away" from the Highlanders by passing with precision in a large counterclockwise progression around the Piedmont net. Twice during that time, Marin Catholic players passed on clean shots-on-goal in order to prevent a Piedmont possession.

"That's exactly what we would have done if we had gotten a goal," said Piedmont Head Coach Lanon Gillins after the game.

The last five minutes of the contest were a showcase of why Marin Catholic has lost just one game all season, but for most of the game the Highlanders were able to keep them off balance with a zone defense and tenacious play on offense.

Piedmont got off to a rocky start when Marin Catholic's Sierra Perrella made the score 2-0 just four minutes into the game. Piedmont scored its first goal with 15:17 to go in the opening half when Amelia Helm got a wrist shot into the back of the net.

The next goal created a major test for the Highlanders. At the 12:25 mark of the first half, Ramsey attempted to pass the ball from her own net, but Wildcats' Kelsey McCarthy stole the ball from three yards in front of the goal and flung it into the goal for a 3-1 Marin Catholic lead.

Rather than succumbing to the inevitable, Piedmont played on and brought the score to a 4-4 tie with just 2:35 left in the first half. Marin Catholic got the lead back with 44 seconds to go before the break, and the second half would begin with the Highlanders down 5-4.

Just three minutes into the second half, Piedmont's Mikaela Cohen put the Highlanders up 6-5 with two scores of her own. It was the first time Piedmont had held the lead.

The Highlanders' first lead didn't last long. Seconds after putting her team on top, Cohen was penalized with a yellow card, and the Highlanders were left without their leading scorer of the day. Without the red-hot Cohen on the field, the Wildcats scored 30 seconds later to tie the game at six.

Highlander Claire Breen got her second goal of the game with 19:17 left, and gave Piedmont the lead for the last time, 7-6. It was Marin Catholic's Hill who tied the game back up with 12:45 left on the clock.

"[Hill] gave us a lot of problems on their team, just because they had some nice set up free-position plays where they went right to her and she rolled to the cage and scored," said Gillins of the Wildcats' star of the game.

Cohen scored three goals, Breen had two, and teammates Helm and Cameron Anderson each had one to finish off Piedmont's scoring.

"Everybody played hard," said Gillins of his team. "That's all I can ask for. Yeah it was a good game, not as clean as I'd like for either side, a lot of dropped balls, a lot of ground balls not picked up on the first time, but I tell the girls, 'This is our new year, it's just who wants it.'"

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