Mepham Lady Pirates Lacrosse Ends Playoff Run With Tough Loss to Division

The Lady Pirates had a fantastic season, ending 12-0 in conference play and 13-3 overall.

And last night Mepham took the field against a bigger and stronger Division team, throwing everything they had at them. But all of Mepham's speed and talent wasn't enough to beat the higher ranked Division High School, falling 15-6.

Lady Pirates Coach Geraldine O'Brien understood her team was undersized but had confidence in her team saying, this will be a "respectable game."

The Lady Pirates didnt let their coach down, playing more then a respectable game. They played with heart, confidence and passion.

The Pirates took the field and started quickly by scoring the first two goals of the game, both by senior and captain Lauren Johnson. One of which was assisted by Cristina Olson, who also had an impressive game.

The next five goals were however scored by the opposing Division Blue Dragons. The Blue Dragons were led by Julie Ballantyne who had a career-high seven goals and four assists.

It seemed that the Blue Dragons defense had focused most of their attention on Cristina Olson and Lauren Johnson who had at least two defenders attached to their hips at all times. Ashley Appel and Nicole Stackpole each picked up the slack and did everything in their powers to help their team fight the entire game.

Despite the 8-3 score at the half, the Mepham defense did nothing short of standing on their heads to hold off the larger, stronger Division attackers.

Goaltender Kathryn DeLauter was outstanding in goal, stopping key shots late in the half to keep the game in striking distance.

The second half was full of pure passion as the Lady Pirates fought nonstop, running into every full force. It was unbelievable goaltending by Division's Jen Otero that kept her team ahead as she stopped shot after shot.

The Lady Pirates mustered three more goals in the half totaling six, all by Lauren Johnson, who's hight and talent were able to give her some sort of edge on the opponents defense. The buzzer sounded and the game was over, a loss for the Lady Pirates 15-6 but nothing short of a great game.

The Pirates playoff run had ended, as did their season, but they played with passion and they never let down until the clock hit zero and all the girls on the team played like champions. The girls ended the game and season as they had started every game before, huddling together to chant "Pirates" one last time on the cold night.

Mepham's defense led by Kaitlyn Paolillo, Jayme Batcher and great plays by Jessica Gelbwaks were all key components to tonights game and every game this season.  

Coach Geraldine O'Brien was happy with their performance, adding "our goalie played great and we played as a team."

The Pirates had an amazing run, ending the regular season 12-0 and making the playoff for the first time in three years.

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