Staples Girls Lacrosse Storms Into State Semifinals

The Staples' girls lacrosse  program took another huge step forward Monday and moved closer to a state title with a convincing 18-11 victory over No. 1 seed Immaculate in the Division I quarterfinals.

The win pushes the 10th-seeded Wreckers (14-6) into their first state semifinal on Wednesday against No. 3 St Bernard at a time and site to be determined. 

Staples head coach Cathy Schager has much to be proud of after a six-year building process .

"It's been a long six years," she said. "It's a slow progression, very rewarding,  but it could be very frustrating,  too. We have great senior leadership, but some very talented underclassmen, too."

The contest was tight through the first 15 minutes of the opening half.  An Immaculate goal with nine minutes left brought the Mustangs to within two, but it set off a scoring binge for the Wreckers,  who began to click offensively. 

Staples attacker Nicole Seo capped the first-half scoring,  as the Wreckers brought a 7-1 advantage into the second half.

Staples appeared to be in control from the start of the game.  A quick score less than a minute into play seemed to set the pace for the rest of the contest.  Staples never trailed and was able to push its brand of lacrosse on a seemingly overmatched Mustangs squad. 

Staples dictated the pace in the first half,  thanks in large part to exceptional defense and goaltending which repeatedly turned away Immaculate scoring chances.

When plays broke down in front of her circle, Wreckers goalie Panagiota Tsilfides directed the traffic and her teammates pushed the ball to their midfielders for scoring chances.

Staples midfielder Jessica Ambrose stood out for her strong presence on both sides of the ball. The super soph disrupted Immaculate attackers, drew penalites, played hard in transition and keyed her teams play in the first half.

The second-half saw an offensive explosion,  as both teams raced up and down the field scoring on nearly every opportunity. 

The two teams combined to score 21 goals in the second half, but a furious Immaculate comeback was quashed due to the outstanding finishing abilities of Seo and sophomore Alexandra Crofts.

Crofts found the back of the net three times in the second half - including a goal 30 seconds in - and finished with five on the afternoon.

Immaculate responded well in the second,  but could not stay within striking distance of the lead as every offensive outburst was countered quickly by Staples.

 Immaculate senior Megan Mitchell and sophomore Alexa Sakorafos scored nine of the Mustangs'  11 goals with Mitchell scoring all five of hers in the second half. 

 In the end, undisciplined shots and ineffective position play doomed the Mustangs as they left their home field for the final time this season.

A complete team effort saw the Wreckers succeed on offense due to truly exceptional passing in transition, which allowed Crofts and Seo to capitalize on scoring chances. 

"The girls have just come to really trust each other and to look up as soon as the ball is in their stick,"  Schager said, "and that's something that takes a lot of practice. We've been working on that a lot, but it pays off."

A goal by Maeve Flaherty halfway through the second half epitomized Staples success:  A stoppage saw Remy Nolan field a pass behind midfield, take two steps and loft a lead pass to Flaherty,  who shifted left and fired a shot passed Mustangs goalie Andrea Westervelt. 

Less than three minutes later, Croft took another pass from Nolan, burst passed her defender and scored.  The Mustangs defender turned to Westervelt and exclaimed, "She just ran passed me!"

When the final horn sounded, the players rushed the field to jump into the arms of Tsilfides and cheers of delight echoed around the stadium.