Any Ches-Mont team is going to be a challenge.
No. 20 West Chester Henderson was no exception. The Warriors scored two quick goals and closed the first quarter up 4-0 in their 13-5 win over host No. 13 Central Bucks West Tuesday night in the first round of the District One 3A girls lacrosse tournament.
“It wasn’t the outcome that we wanted but we played really hard. Henderson is a very good competitor,” noted West coach Jordan Sanocki. “But I think we did the things that we needed to. We did the things that we wanted to well.”
The Bucks bounced back. Grace Naylor got West on the board two minutes into the second period. From there, West and Henderson traded goals for the middle third of the game.
“In the second into third, we started working the middle better,” Sanocki observed. “We found open cutters. We were doing what we do really well, which was being patient and selective with the ball. I think it just got away from us at the end, which sometimes happens.”
Sophomore speedster Aida Ierubino scored her first goal to cut the lead to 5-2. An Olivia Barrett tally closed the first half and whittled Henderson’s lead to 7-3.
Ierubino struck again on a penalty shot 3:14 into the third to make the game 8-4. Kam Brownlow closed the scoring for West after a lengthy possession where the Bucks showed patience and good ball movement.
West closes the year 14-5. The Bucks improved their win total by five from 2023 while finishing one game out of first in the SOL National. And they return a significant number of starters: all five goals were scored by underclassmen.
“It was great to have a first playoff game at home. We have a ton of young talent. The seniors who are graduating, we will dearly miss” Sanocki reminded, “but going from 9-6 last year to what we were this year is a huge improvement. And with all of the returners we have next year, hopefully we can start the season as strong as we did this year.”
Henderson heads to No. 4 Conestoga in Thursday’s second round.
Elsewhere in lacrosse playoffs, No. 8 Pennridge (13-5) clinched a first-round bye by virtue of its 12-7 season-finale win over Council Rock South. The SOL National co-champs await No. 9 Plymouth Whitemarsh on Thursday. PW ironically beat No. 24 CR South (11-8) 18-5 in Tuesday’s first round. Mia Schink had a hat trick for the Golden Hawks.
No. 15 Council Rock North (12-4) topped No. 18 Phoenixville 11-9 as the Indians won their first district game in at least a decade. Julie Ondria, Maddy Mela and Ellie Carney all had hat tricks while goalie Lucy Carney had a huge night, saving 14 shots. The Indians, who finished one game out of first in the SOL National, play at No. 2 Radnor on Thursday.
Seven teams will represent District One in the PIAA 3A lacrosse tournament. District semifinals will be May 23 and finals are May 29.
No. 13 New Hope-Solebury (8-10) opened with a late Wednesday match at No. 4 Bishop Shanahan in the District One 2A tournament. All quarterfinal winners clinch one of the district’s four spots in the 2A state tournament. NH-S closed the year going 5-4. The Lions’ marquee win was a 15-10 defeat of Archbishop Wood on April 19, behind Maddie Thistlewaite’s eight goals.
No. 2 Archbishop Wood earned a first-round bye in Philadelphia Catholic League play. The Vikings, who went 7-2 in conference play, faced No. 3 Cardinal O’Hara late Wednesday. Wood won the regular season match 14-10. The PCL final is May 20 at Gwynedd-Mercy.
Two Wood seniors – Tess Waltrich and Grace Hoeger – joined Vikings junior Casey Schuette in making the All-Catholic League First Team.
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