Sukonik And Harriton Ready For The Playoffs

Carli Sukonik has no problem with saying she’s greedy. The Harriton senior deserves to be. She’s been one of the mainstays in the resurgence of the Rams’ girls’
lacrosse program the last three years. She’s been hammered by opponents from some of the top teams in the area. Each of those years, Harriton has closed the gap with the strongest programs.

Now, there is no gap.

The Rams will enter the PIAA District 1 playoffs on Tuesday as the No. 4 seed. They'll host No. 29 seed Phoenixville (9-7) in the first round. The Rams will do so with one of the most explosive offenses in the league, led by Sukonik, who has scored 84 goals this season.

Last week, Sukonik scored her 300th career goal, during an 18-0 mauling of Upper Darby. She’ll graduate as one of the school’s all-time great players. But she wants more.

She wants to leave with a state championship, which is possible. The Rams were 16-2 overall and finished the regular season with a share of the Central League title, with Radnor, Garnet Valley and Springfield—a first for the Harriton program.

Sukonik and her teammates have some well-earned confidence going into the post-season. They defeated both of last year’s state finalists this season, beating two-time defending state champion Radnor for the first time since 1982 and beating Springfield for the first time since 1985.

Harriton beat Radnor 14-13 in sudden death on May 3. In a late-season show of character, the Rams came back to win, after trailing 9-8 late.

“I think that clearly as the season has gone on, and we’ve gotten closer to the playoffs, things have become more realistic, and things have gone great for us, better than anyone could have imagined,” said Sukonik, who’s bound for Lehigh for lacrosse. “I think we can do well in the district playoffs.

“We’ve learned a lot. Something interesting is that we’ve been down three times all year, and two of them have resulted in losses. Sometimes the underclassmen, and sometimes the upperclassmen, don’t realize what we did. Beating Radnor showed what we can do. ... We’ll remember to fight back.”

If the seeding holds up, Harriton could be faced with an all-Central League quarterfinal match with Springfield, which the Rams defeated earlier this season in a close match. If Harriton gets further, there is the potential for a semifinal match with No. 1 seed Downingtown East in the district semifinals.

“The biggest thing we need to focus on is playing all 50 minutes,” Sukonik said. “The seniors know what this is like from past years, and we know other teams raise their level this time of year. ... I think if we stay with that, I think we can do well and can have a lot of success in the district playoffs. This is what we’ve been working for.”