Shore Regional Girls Lacrosse Looks to Learn from Losses

After back-to-back losses against one of the more daunting 1-2 punches in the state, a young Shore Regional girls lacrosse team is hoping to use that experience to make a splash once the postseason rolls around.

 A perennial power in their own right, the Blue Devils lost 10-3 to state power Moorestown on Saturday and then endured a 9-5 setback to the Shore Conference’s No. 1 team, Rumson-Fair Haven, on Tuesday. Coupled with an earlier loss to Rumson this season, those are the only three losses for the Blue Devils (7-3), who are considered a top three team in the Shore that certainly could see the Bulldogs again in the Shore Conference Tournament final.

“(The last two games) help us grow,’’ said 12th-year head coach Chris Raichle. “We’re young, and we’re inexperienced.’’

Rumson’s dynamic offense proved difficult to slow down, as junior midfielder Claire Scarrone scored a game-high four goals and senior midfielder Chrissy Lushefski added two goals to power the win and all but wrap up the Class A Central title for the Bulldogs.

“They put on a clinic on being athletic,’’ Raichle said about Rumson. “They are just incredibly talented. They’re so fast, and they’re very hard to defend. We just turned the ball over way too much. You can’t give them that many chances, but our kids learned from it and hopefully every game they’ll get better.’’

Junior midfielder Chelsea Henderson had a goal and two assists in the loss for Shore, which only managed nine shots against Rumson’s defense. Sophomore midfielder Claudia LaMarca, junior midfielder Molly Arnette, senior midfielder Jackie Bradley and senior midfielder Andrea Adams added the other four goals for the Blue Devils.

Meanwhile, the Shore defense had its hands full with Rumson’s array of offensive standouts.

“They’re difficult to stop, so you’ve got to try to mix up the looks against them on defense, but their athleticism takes over,’’ Raichle said. “They’re one of the fastest teams I’ve ever seen.’’

“(Shore) played a zone defense, so we had to settle down and relax,’’ Scarrone said. “Second cutters were open, so we just needed to calm down and take it slow.’’

Rumson beat Shore 11-6 in their first meeting of the season, and the scoring was spread out among several players, which is what makes the Bulldogs so tough to defend. There certainly is a good chance Shore could see Rumson again in the SCT championship game considering the Blue Devils have not lost to any other Shore Conference team this season, so the goal is to try to somehow find a way to close that gap.

For years, Shore was the dominant team in the conference, but Rumson has turned the tables in recent seasons to gain the upper hand after the graduation of several stellar players for the Blue Devils.

“We certainly didn’t make any gains today,’’ Raichle said on Wednesday. “We have a lot of work to do, but we’ll keep plugging along. Hopefully we can get to the Shore Conference final and have a better showing.’’