High School Girls Lacrosse: Gansz and Webb Lead Vikings to Romp Over Phantoms

It’s no secret that the season has not started exactly as Perkiomen Valley Coach Katie Bradley had drawn it up. However, following the Vikings' execution of the game plan on Monday afternoon, Bradley couldn’t hold back the smile, and her girls may be onto something.

Perkiomen Valley, which improved to 2-5 in league play and 3-6 overall, peppered Old Dominion committee Phantoms goaltender Karen Hayde with 29 shots on the way to 15-7 thumping of Phoenixville.

“It was important for us to start strong,” said senior Alexa Webb. “We have had some slow starts this year that have cost us games. Our communication and execution were much better today. The early goals helped our confidence and gave us the momentum that we were able to carry into the second half.”

Grace Malizia, who has committed to Bloomsburg, got the Vikings on the board just three minutes into the game with an eight-meter shot, followed by Webb (two goals, two assists) 90 seconds later as she buried a feed from Andrea Berenato past Hayde.

“We knew how important this game was,” said Malizia. “We have already lost some very important games and could not afford to let this one get away. We really did a good job of controlling the ball today and taking advantage of our scoring chances, which is something we have been lacking.”

Senior Amber Gansz who had a prefect 5-for-5 shooting performance on the day, posting six points overall, recorded back-to-back tallies less than 40 seconds apart at the 17:37 mark in the fist half, posting the Vikings to a 4-0 lead, setting the tone for the entire game.

“Amber did a great job today, like she has all year,” said Webb. “We did not let down today, which was huge. Even when they cut the lead to two, we stayed focused and kept attacking.”

The Phantoms, (3-4 league, 3-6 overall) scored three times in the span of four minutes to claw their way back into the fray, temporarily at least, cutting the lead to 5-3, before Berenato, who scored four goals in the game, got her most important point of the game by beating Hayde on the short side regaining the momentum for the Vikings heading in to the break.

“Kate (Jacobsen) did a great job making saves early,” said Malizia. “That made such a big difference. When you goalie makes saves like that, it gives you a boost playing in front of her.”

Perkiomen Valley filled the net with vulcanized rubber in the second half, scoring nine goals, which took away the fight that the Phantoms had left in them. Casey Bedard ripped a pass from Gansz into the upper part of the twine and Haley McGettigan added a goal as well to compliment second half tallies by Gansz, Webb, Berenato and Malizia.

Phoenixville                            3   4   -7

Perkiomen Valley               6   9   -15

Perkiomen Valley scoring

Amber Gansz-  5 goals, assist

Grace Maliazia- 2 goals, assist

Rachel Palumbo- assist

Alexa Webb- 2 goals, 2 assists

Andrea Beranato- 4 goals, assist

Casey Bedard- goal

Lauren Valerio- assist

Haley McGettigan- goal, assist

Liz McShane- assist

 Jacobsen- 10 saves

Phoenixville scoring

Marlee Farbstein- 3 goals

Shannan McErlean- goals, assists

Jess Tague- goal

Meghan Fortman- 2 goals