Late rally falls short for Sweet Home girls lacrosse
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Sweet Home's Marijke VanLeeuwen, right, leaps off the ground to fire a shot past the outstretched stick of Lake Shore's Jill Pelechanty during the Lady Panthers' 10-9 Section VI Class B quarterfinal home loss on Tuesday, May 22. Photo by Joe Eberle Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Sweet Home had high hopes for a deep Section VI playoff run but Lake Shore had other ideas. Lake Shore, seeded fifth in the Class B tournament, won at fourth-seed Sweet Home, 10-9, in a girls lacrosse quarterfinal game on Tuesday, May 22.

Sweet Home trailed Lake Shore 9-4 with 15 minutes remaining before making a furious comeback, the final Lady Panther goal by Jessica Louttit (Leann Stiver) with a minute remaining to make it a one-goal game. The Lady Panthers caused a turnover with 20 seconds left, brought the ball up field, but didn't have enough time for a scoring opportunity.

"Most teams down by five goals with 15 minutes left would have given up," said Sweet Home coach Katie Tutak. "This team completely turned it around."

"To go on a run like that was pretty impressive," she added. "If we had another 15 seconds (on the game clock), I'm pretty confident that we could have scored and tied it up."

Sweet Home had to play comeback in the second half because they didn't play well in the first half.

Lake Shore opened a 3-0 halftime lead and Sweet Home didn't score until 12 minutes into the game, Katie Mazuchowski from Stiver, and cut it to 3-2 with three minutes remaining in the first half when Marisa Kelly scored on a free position.

"Lake Shore controlled most draws in the first half," said Tutak. "We let them set the tempo. We're more of a fast-paced team and they got out of our style of play in the first half. They probably only had five possessions and held the ball for so long that it took us a while to cause a turnover."

Lake Shore opened a 6-2 second half lead before Sweet Home's Caitlin Colkitt scored on a free position to make the score 6-3. Later, with the score at 9-4, Tutak called a timeout, told her team to play with more focus and intensity, and they responded. Mazuchowski was one of the players who stepped up their game with two second-half goals (three overall) as well as scooping up five ground balls and winning three faceoffs.

Louttit had two goals and two assists and Rochelle Ricchiazzi added a goal and an assist. Laura Nerber scored a goal and Kati Baird assisted. Kelly recovered six ground balls. Goalie Danielle Holloway made 15 saves.

Sweet Home finishes 7-8. Ten of 12 starters graduate, including Colkitt, the team's leader in goals (28), points (35), ground balls (64), and faceoffs, Holloway (65 save percentage), Ashley Brant, Baird, Kelly, Brooke Nieman, Louttit, and low defenders Brianne Galli and Sarah Heron. Junior Chrissy Strom will graduate early and will not be able to play on the team next year.

Nerber was second on the team in scoring with 20 goals and eight assists. Ricchiazzi came in third with 13 goals and seven assists.

"For a first-year coach, it was a wonderful team," said Tutak. "They had the right attitude, dedication and desire to win."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com