Madie Thistlewaite thinks a back-to-basics approach just might be the key to success.
The senior on the New Hope-Solebury girls lacrosse team may be onto something, as that approach helped the Lions to a 17-6 non-league win over host Villa Joseph Marie on Monday.
The Lions opened up scoring when Thistlewaite netted the first goal of the day, then Olivia Conte followed suit to make it 2-0.
The Jems then netted a goal and the first period ended with New Hope holding a 2-1 advantage.
VJM tied it up with the first goal of the second quarter, but that was as close as the Jems would come for the remainder of the game. By halftime New Hope led 6-3 and after the third quarter, that lead extended to 15-4.
The victory came after a difficult 14-1 opening day loss to Pennsbury.
“I definitely think we needed this win as a confidence boost,” Thistlewaite said. “We had a tough loss against Pennsbury. This game started off a little bit slow for us, but we pulled it together. We did what we knew and that worked for us.
“In the beginning of the game, it was a little back-and-forth and at halftime we realized we had to stick to what we did well and what we knew how to do. We had to stick to the basics, like catching and throwing.
“We were making mistakes on those things in the beginning of the game, I think because we were kind of nervous because of our last game. We took a deep breath and regrouped and that really helped us.”
Thistlewaite led all scorers with nine goals. She also won a whopping 17 draw controls, caused one turnover and picked up a ground ball.
Also a standout on the field hockey team, she will play lacrosse next season at Bucknell.
Anna D’Agostino scored three goals, had one assist, caused one turnover and picked up one ground ball for New Hope.
“This win was so important for us because our last game against Pennsbury was a big loss so it was good to get our momentum going and our morale up so hopefully we’ll get on a winning track,” said D’Agostino, who also played tennis for the Lions.
“Sometimes it’s hard to bounce back from a big loss like that but I think we’ve put that behind us.”
The Lions lost quite a few seniors from last year’s squad but have a good crop of freshmen.
“We’ve really had to focus on rebuilding,” Thistlewaite said. “We have a really good defense. We need to work on connecting on offense.”
D’Agostino likes what she sees from the new players.
“I think it’s our most talented group of freshmen since I’ve been here,” she said. “They should bring the team a lot of good spirit and a lot of skill.”
After being mainstays in the District One Class 2A tournament for a number of years, the Lions have not made a playoff appearance since 2021.
“We 100 percent want to make the playoffs this year but that’s a goal in the back of our minds,” Thistlewaite said. “We’re not looking too far ahead. We’re just focusing on winning each game and if we do that, I think everything will fall into place.”
Mia Patino had one goal and one assist for New Hope, while Jamie Gugger scored a goal and had one draw control, Ceci Capriotti poured in a goal and three ground balls, Delaney Brown scored one goal and had one assist, Conte had an assist and five ground balls to go along with her goal, Caroyln Brennan had one assist, one caused turnover and one ground ball, Meara Chick won one draw control, Maya Sudol picked up a ground ball and Emersyn Thistlewaite contributed a ground ball.
Nicole Segler made six saves in goal for New Hope.
The Lions outshot the Jems, 31-13.
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