Pelham Lacrosse Falls To A Feisty White Plains Squad

The Pelham Memorial High School Varsity girls lacrosse team took on White Plains High School at Franklin Field in Pelham Thursday afternoon and was defeated 9-17.

The chills and rains of earlier this week were nowhere to be found Thursday afternoon as the PMHS Pelicans took on the White Plains Tigers. The temperatures were perfect and with little to no wind to hinder the flight of the lacrosse ball.

The beginning of the first period saw a furious back and fourth between possessions by the two teams with each team having difficulty holding onto the ball long enough to score. Soon however, White Plains' goaltending and Pelham’s inability to execute on offense resulted in a score of Pelham-0 and White Plains- 3 with 12:56 to go in the period.  A very aggressive White Plains attack squad would tally a 10-4 score by halftime. White Plains' ability to win draws throughout the entire game would be crucial to their victory.

The second period saw the comeback of the Pelicans. Taking advantage of weak transitions from the White Plains defense and capitalizing on their organized plays, Pelham was able to steadily put points on the scoreboard.

“We had difficulty clearing it at the beginning of the game and getting it up the field but I though we cleaned it up after a little while, “ reflected White Plains coach Michael Eaton.

At the other end of the field, Pelham Coach Sara Bagwell was pleased to see her team responding to the plays that they had been working on in practice.

“Even though it wasn’t always effective, they did it, and that’s going to be important when we play tomorrow, Saturday and next week,” Bagwell said.

However, for every point Pelham scored, it seemed as though White Plains responded with two points of their own. 

“They just had a little bit of height on us, just a little bit of aggression, and sometimes it’s just who wants the ball more, who’s going to hesitate and if you hesitate for half a second in this game, that’s a matter of having possession or trailing behind the girl who has the ball,” remarked Bagwell.

The final score of the game was Pelham 9 and White Plains 17.

Top scorers for Pelham were Maggie Rooney and Elizabeth Humphrey both with three goals. Between the pipes for Pelham was Laura Gabow with 16 saves. Top scorer for White Plains was Julia Martino with four goals. In goal for White Plains was Kelsey Fee with 15 saves.

This game brings Pelham’s record to 7-3 and White Plains’ to 9-3.

On Saturday Pelham will be looking for redemption against the Ursuline School at Iona College beginning at 4:30 p.m. White Plains will be taking on Hastings High School on Saturday starting at 3 p.m. at White Plains High School.