St. Vincent Pallotti Lacrosse Team Eyes League Title

When Paul Billingsley took over the girls lacrosse program last year at St. Vincent Pallotti High, he knew he would have to make some changes. And after last season, in which seniors scored more than 100 goals, one change may have seemed out of step with building the program.

Billingsley, a long-time club coach in Anne Arundel County, suggested to Pallotti athletic director Steve Walker that his team move from the B division of the IAAM down one level to the C league. That is what the Panthers have done this spring, with success. Pallotti, 5-10 overall last year, won 10 of its first 14 games this season and was 6-1 in league play through Wednesday. The Panthers will have to play at the C level again next year.

"I knew we were losing a lot of scoring punch," Billingsley told Patch this week. "I told Steve, maybe it is good to go down to the C conference and have success there and get some notoriety for the program. In order to build the program you have to have success to attract the kids."

The leading scorer for Pallotti in games through Wednesday was junior co-captain Jill Pavlacka, who had 58 goals to rank among the leaders in the region. Ashley Wilkinson had 24 assists and Lisa Bianchini had 26 goals. "We are spreading the offense out a little bit," said Billingsley, a Bowie resident.

Pavlacka, a Laurel resident, said Wednesday the move down a level made sense. "I knew we would be losing around seven seniors and losing most of our leading scorers," said Pavlacka, who hopes to play lacrosse in college. "It was the best move for us to be more competitive. It was more of a rebuilding season. We have stepped up a lot."

Pavlacka has helped make up for the loss of Shelby Lyles, a senior last year who is now on the team at Mount St. Mary's. "I knew I would have to step up," Pavlacka said. "I never expected to be averaging (nearly) five goals a game."

The Panthers are on top of the gold division in the C conference while Baltimore Lutheran is leading the red division. The teams could meet in the championship game of the playoffs. There are nine teams in the C league and all of them make the playoffs.

Pallotti beat Chapelgate Christian of Howard County on Tuesday, 17-6, as Pavlacka had six goals, Wilkinson had five goals and one assist and goalie Caroline Harvey had 15 saves.

The win came one day after a 12-10 loss to Baltimore Lutheran. Both teams were unbeaten in regular-season league play but the Panthers came up short despite three goals and one assist from Laurel resident Deanna Moya, three caused turnovers by Bianchini and nine saves by Harvey. "She is the best goalie in the conference, no question," Billingsley said of Harvey.

"I feel we are going to see them in the title game," Moya said of Baltimore Lutheran. "It was definitely a great game. We worked very hard. The team has definitely improved a lot since last year."

Pallotti has about 24 players on its roster this season, but does not have a junior varsity team. Billingsley said the Panthers had about 16 varsity players in 2010, when the school also fielded a JV team.

Moya, who also plays field hockey, said the move down from the B league to the C division has allowed freshmen members on the Pallotti team to adjust to the varsity level.

Perhaps the best all-around player for Pallotti is Pavlacka, who has played at the club level for several years. "She has been playing since she was little," Moya said. "She has great stick skills. She has great ball control. She is really good. She gives you constructive criticism" as a captain.

Laurel High baseball

The Laurel High baseball team is slated to host DuVal on Friday at 4 p.m. The Spartans are also at home Monday, against High Point. Terry Parfitt, the athletic director at Laurel, said Thursday the spring rain has made it a challenge to re-schedule games for baseball and softball. The Laurel High baseball team will also host a tournament at the school on April 23.

Laurel High softball

The Laurel High softball team, under head coach Julie Provino, will host DuVal on Friday at 4:15 p.m. at Fairland Regional Park in West Laurel. Laurel is home to High Point on Monday, also at Fairland.

In other Laurel High sports, the track and field team is at the Morgan State Invitational on Saturday in Baltimore.

Pallotti baseball heads South

The Pallotti High baseball team will play Monday (April 18) at Riverdale Baptist, one of the top programs in the area. Terry Terrill, the head coach for Riverdale Baptist, won his 900th game at the school in late March and he will be honored on Wednesday, April 20 when he throws out the first pitch at Prince George's County Stadium prior to a Bowie Baysox game.

Pallotti will then head next week to Rock Hill, SC for its annual spring trip. The Panthers will play several games in an event that is partially sponsored by Winthrop University, a Division I program in South Carolina.

Pat Courtemanche, the head coach for Pallotti, said he plans to have JV head coach David Sheridan along for the trip. Sheridan played in college at Pfeiffer in North Carolina and has been in contact with some coaches in the Carolinas about the Pallotti trip. Sheridan was an infielder in the Washington Nationals' farm system in 2007.

Romaniuk leads Pallotti softball

The Pallotti High softball team lost, 24-5, on Monday to McDonogh. Julianna Romaniuk had three hits for the Panthers and Emily Faulkner had two. Shannon Palmateer drove in two runs for Pallotti.

Pallotti boys lacrosse loses

The Pallotti High boys lacrosse team lost, 15-7, on Tuesday to Park. The team did win a game last year and has struggled again this season.