Saucon Valley freshman Cam Zavacky digging deep to scoop the ground ball.
In their home opener played on the turf at Emmaus High School, the Saucon Valley Lady Panther lacrosse team rattled off four unanswered goals in the final minutes of regulation to push the Lady Hornets into overtime. The Panthers late rally ran out of fuel, however, as Emmaus sophomore midfielder Taylor O’Brien created enough space deep in Panther territory to rifle a shot into the back of the goal for sudden-death overtime victory. The Lady Hornets defeated the Panthers 12-11.
The Panther defense trying to hold off the Emmaus attack.
Saucon Valley got off to a sluggish start at Emmaus, and who could blame them. With a soaking drizzle and chilled temperatures it was far from a great day for the Lady Laxers to start the Spring sports season. The Hornets scored first and built a 6-4 halftime lead. Panther goals were scored by Cam Zavacky, Brooke Riefenstahl, Siobhan Coakley and Helen Kresholek. Zavacky is a freshman and scored the first Panther goal of the season. Riefenstahl and Coakley are sophomores while Kresholek a junior.
Saucon sophomore Kat Naiburg finds herself surrounded by Green Hornets as she works toward a score.
Emmaus came out of the halftime break and added to their lead with a couple of quick goals. Panther sophomore defender Sara Duffy had enough and hit her stride to cruise the length of the field for a remarkable coast-to-coast goal. Duffy’s score sparked the Panthers as senior Maddie Stump and sophomore Kat Naiburg each found the back of the Hornet net and cut the Saucon deficit to 8-7. Emmaus, however, had other ideas as they fought back with three goals over the next four minutes of play. With just under 12 minutes remaining the Green Hornets extended their lead to 11-7 and seemed to take control of the game.
Sophomore defender Sara Duffy celebrates her goal with her Panther teammates.
The Panthers used a well-timed timeout to refocus and came roaring back. Saucon Valley scored four unanswered goals by Siobhan Coakley, Helen Kreshollek, Maddie Zych and Maddie Stump. The Panthers dominated over a seven minute span to knot the score 11-11.
As the clock wound down, Saucon cautiously maintained possession and played for the final shot of the game. However, Emmaus senior goalie, Nina Carotenuto made another of her 14 saves on the day to push the game into overtime.
Junior Helen Kresholek takes the draw for the Panther in overtime.
Overtime consists of two three-minute periods where the first goal wins. On this day, it was a Green Hornet sophomore, Taylor O’Brien, who played the part of the hero. With possession, Emmaus spread to Saucon defense allowing O’Brien to beat her defender and hit the final goal :59 seconds into overtime. It was a 12-11 sudden-death victory for the Green Hornets.
The Panthers fell in their opener, but they are scheduled to rise again to do battle with the Freedom Patriots on Friday. The game is scheduled to be played on Saucon’s grass field. If the field is playable the game will start at 4:30 p.m.
Good Luck Panthers, the Source is with you!
