The 2023 lacrosse season opened on St. Patrick’s Day. A young CB South (1-1) squad showed flashes of promise before ultimately falling to Abington 13-7 at Warrington.
“Our defense really came together. There were a lot of highlights today but there were a lot of errors,” observed South head coach Janique Craig. “It comes down to inexperience. I can see so many positive highlights on the field. And Abington is a great team. We’ll learn from our mistakes. I’m looking forward to seeing them improve because they’ve improved so much in a week.”
The Titans took a 3-2 lead, on three unanswered goals, midway through the first half. Avery Curtis connected on two penalty shots and sophomore Addison Geary scored her first of five goals to put South up.
Abington responded with eight unanswered goals, but Geary scored three straight of her own to trim the Ghost lead 11-7 with 8:00 remaining.
In a commendable effort senior goalie and captain Gabby Mayo made a dozen saves, keeping the game close in the first half.
Last year CB South (10-9) finished fourth in the 11 team SOL National. The Titans also returned to districts after a four-year absence, although one of those misses stemmed from a pandemic cancellation.
“This year, we have a brand new team. We have three returning starters,” Craig said. “We’re trying to feel each other and we’re switching different combinations.
“I think once we get our fully skilled players with the lacrosse IQ and our combinations down, it’s going to be really good,” Craig continued. “I saw some great midfield transitions today. We just have to clean it up a little bit.”
The Titans made their coach look like a prophet on Tuesday, when they regrouped to authoritatively down Archbishop Wood 15-8 at home.
Offensively, South lost two major weapons from last fall: Kate Victor and Grace Gannon were both first team all SOL National. The Titans expected to lose Victor to graduation but the loss of Richmond-bound Gannon to a season-ending injury was a tough blow. Fortunately, South retains stellar goalie Mayo, who will keep the Titans in games and provide veteran leadership.
“Gabby was a leader on the field last year as well and she is an all-league player. She has really stepped up,” Craig noted. “Addie got injured last season as a freshman. Now she is really excited to be back and lead our attack with Brooke Cenci, our junior captain. We have a lot of scorers on this team, which is cool and exciting.”
The Titans traveled to Bishop Shanahan for a Wednesday late game. The Eagles are the reigning 2A district champs and went to the state semifinals last spring.
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