Saints top Hillers

5/20/2009

MIDDLETOWN -- The only two schools that have ever won the state girls lacrosse championship met to determine which would still have a shot Tuesday night.

Living up to the tune sung by classmates collected in the sun-drenched east stands -- "When The Saints Go Marching In" -- it was St. Andrew's that charged into Thursday's final.

St. Andrew's attained, maintained and finished possessions quite adeptly from the start and dispatched Independent Conference rival Tower Hill 15-10 at Bill Billings Alumni Stadium in the semifinals of the 12th annual Delaware High School Girls Lacrosse Tournament.

Tower Hill was the three-time defending state champion, having beaten St. Andrew's in the finals the last two years. The Saints come back Thursday at 7 p.m. to meet Cape Henlopen, which edged St. Mark's 9-8 in the other semifinal Tuesday.

"We've had some hard losses to Tower, so this feels good," said senior captain Corrinne Armistead, who scored three goals.

No. 2-seeded St. Andrew's (15-3) won the last of its six state titles in 2005.

Tower Hill, the third seed, finished 13-4.

St. Andrew's scored on its first three possessions to go up 3-1, and built a 7-2 first-half lead.

"It's sort of a tribute to this team how quickly we got momentum. We ride our momentum," said senior captain Beth Martin. "We know there will be ups and downs but we play hard for 50 minutes."

Tower Hill held the Saints scoreless over the final 11:50 of the first half, and received goals from Meghan Lyons and Emily Schuckert in the final two minutes to cut the deficit to a hopeful 7-4 at halftime.

But St. Andrew's re-established its superiority with goals by Madison Beres, the first of her four in the second half, and Lucinda Caldwell in a 24-second span early in the second half, and the lead grew to 11-4. Tower Hill got no closer than four goals after that.

"I'm most proud of how we played as a team tonight," said St. Andrew's coach Kassy Fritz, whose squad has won 12 straight. "That's what we brought."