GIRLS LAX: Springside Chestnut Hill Academy’s Lucy Pearson Records a Major Milestone as Inter-Ac Play Commences in this Week’s Notebook 4/4

By: Marc Narducci

Photos by: James Quinn, Geanine Jamison & Scotty Haines

The game stopped and Lucy Pearson had no idea what was going on. The Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (SCHA) senior had just performed her specialty – making another key lacrosse save and she wondered why play was halted.

“I had no idea what was happening at first and one of our captains Ava Schreiber turned to the ref and said ‘timeout’ and everybody was screaming.”

It turns out the screams were justified.

Pearson had just made her 200th career save. She didn’t know about the impending milestone, but her teammates surely did.

“It was a great game for it to happen,” Pearson said.

The milestone save was the first of 14 for her that day in a 9-7 victory over a talented Lawrenceville School team.

“Lucy made 14 incredible saves as the anchor of a very stingy defense,” SCH coach Noelle Cebron-Powell said.

In the game awards, Pearson earned the “Hard-Hat” and Schreiber earned the “Most Extra” for giving that ‘extra’ dose of energy to the team.

For Pearson it was just another day at the office, which meant one more extraordinary performance.

SCHA'S LUCY PEARSON MAKES HER 200TH CAREER SAVE. (PHOTO/SCHA ATHLETICS)

To record 200 goals is even more impressive considering that as a freshman, she was a backup to Delaney Sweitzer, who was a senior at the time and is now a goalie at Syracuse. Then due to COVID, there was just one game played during her sophomore year. So, last year was Pearson’s first full year as a starter and so she accumulated 200 saves in barely more than one full season.

Pearson credits Sweitzer for helping her development.

“She was a great role model and played in the Under Armor All-American and I looked up to her,” Pearson said. “I said that I wanted to be like her, a great teammate and work hard like she does.”

Pearson has been working on her craft for a long time. She estimates that she has played lacrosse since the first grade and most of the time it has been in goal.

“I started as a middie and thought it looked cool to have a helmet on so I tried it (goal) and at that point I said I would be a goalie,” she recalls laughing.

Now she will continue her lacrosse career and education at Stanford, which is ranked 22nd in the most recent Interscholastic Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Division I poll. Pearson said one of the first texts she received when NCAA coaches were allowed to contact prospective recruits came from Stanford coach Danielle Spencer in the second week of September during her junior year. Shortly after she made a visit to the campus and was shown around by former SCH player Mikaela Watson, who was a fifth-year senior during the 2021 season.

“She showed me around and it was the most beautiful place and of course the academics are great,” said Pearson, who takes several Advanced Placement courses at SCHA.

Springside Chestnut Hill Academy vs. Penn Charter on 4/5 (Photos/James Quinn for PSD)

In addition to playing lacrosse, Pearson was a member of her school’s squash team, where she served as a team captain. That came in the winter and helped tremendously with conditioning.

“I loved it,” she said. “It is so fast-paced, and it really helps with hand-eye coordination and reaction time.”

Hand-eye coordination and reaction time are prerequisites to being a goalie and Pearson has adeptly displayed both skills. While her latest milestone came in the beginning of the season, don’t rule out another game stopping unexpectedly before the season concludes. After all, 300 saves is a realistic goal, for somebody who has been making big stops for a long time.

Other Springside Chestnut Hill Academy performances

SCHA earned its first Inter-Ac victory with a 12-9 win over Penn Charter on April 5. Emma Bradbury had five goals and 10 draw controls in a dominating performance. Other multiple-goal scorers were Cece Reilly and Sarah Scollin, who each had two goals while Pearson made six saves.

Pearson was at her best in a 14-10 win over Cardinal O’Hara the next day, making 16 saves. Bradbury had five goals, two assists, eight draw controls and two ground balls, while Madison Freeman added four goals. Alex Reilly was the other multiple goal scorer with two, while also adding six draw controls.

SCHA SENIOR CECE REILLY SCORES 100TH CAREER POINT. (PHOTO/SCHA ATHLETICS)

Pearson wasn’t the only SCHA player to achieve a milestone this season. In a 17-6 win over Gwynedd Mercy Academy on March 31, Cece Reilly, who is a Louisville commit, had two goals, including the 100th of her career.

Alex Reilly controlled the midfield and scored six goals while Bradbury had four goals, three assists and 12 draw controls.

Episcopal Academy early front-runner in balanced Inter-Ac

Two games into the Inter-Ac game schedule, the only team to win them both is Episcopal Academy, which improved to 2-0 with a 12-7 win over Notre Dame.

How balanced are the Churchwomen?

Eight different players scored at least one goal in the win, led by Alexa Capozzoli, a St. Joseph’s University commit, who had three goals. The other multiple goal scorers were Alexis Ventresca who had two goals, one assist and 10 draw controls and Brooke Stocku, who added two goals.

The other goals scorers were Bella Piselli, who also had an assist, along with Jordan Morley, Maura Irish, Quinn Whitaker and Sydney Richter.

Grace Holland made seven saves.

EA’s other Inter-AC win came last month in an opening 10-6 win over Agnes Irwin.

Episcopal Academy in game vs. Agnes Irwin.(photos/Scotty Haines for PSD)

Successful trip for William Penn Charter

Last month, Penn Charter traveled to San Diego and one of its outlying suburbs to play three games and won all three in convincing style. There was a 15-5 win over Cathedral Catholic, a 14-9 triumph over Torrey Pines and an 18-2 victory over La Costa Canyon High.

In the win over Cathedral Catholic, Darcy Felter, who will take her talents to North Carolina, led the way with five goals, one assist and three draw controls. Gracie Shoup added four goals and four draw controls and Charlotte Hodgson added three goals and three draw controls.

The Torrey Pines game was the most challenging of the trip. At halftime the score was tied, 5-5, but then the Quakers pulled away in the second half.

Lane Murray and Maddie Shoup each scored three goals, with Shoup adding three assists. Kayla Joyce made six saves.

In the win over La Costa Canyon, Felter not only had three goals and three assists, but had the impressive total of 10 draw controls.

Back home, the Quakers had two close wins beginning with a 15-13 win over Hill Academy of Ontario. Maddie Shoup contributed three goals, one assists, two draw controls and two ground balls. Felter had 2 goals and 11 draw controls, while Hodgson had three goals, one assist, and three draw controls.

That was followed by a 9-8 triumph over Bishop Shanahan.

Penn Charter had to play a player down for 22 minutes due to yellow cards, but still prevailed. Felter had three goals, two ground balls and five draw controls. The other players who contributed a goal and or an assist were Bea Buckley (1 G, 1 A), Grace Walter (1 A), Charlotte Hodgson (1 G, 1 A), Maddie Shoup (2 G, 1 A), Lane Murray (2 G). Meanwhile, Joyce made nine saves in goal.

The Quakers suffered their first Inter-Ac loss with a 12-9 defeat to Springside Chestnut Hill Academy on April 5th with Maddie Shoup, Buckley and Murray each scoring twice. That left the Quakers at 6-1 overall and 1-1 in league.

“We are off to a great start and the team is working hard and getting better every day,” coach Colleen Magarity Kelly said. “We played a tough game against SCH on Tuesday and hopefully my team is able to learn from the loss and continue to get better for the rest of the strong Inter-Ac schedule.”

Penn Charter vs Springside Chestnut Hill. (photos/James Quinn for PSD)

Penn Charter vs. SCHA. (video/James Quinn for PSD)

First Inter-Ac win for Germantown Academy

Germantown Academy, which earlier this season opened Inter-Ac action with a 10-9 loss to Penn Charter, earned its first league win with a 25-14 victory over Baldwin on 4/5.

Five players had multiple goals, led by junior Mia Raven, who had five goals along with two assists. The other multi-goal scorers were Emma Goodwin (3 G, 4 A), Lucia Smigiel (2 G, 3 A), Cate Luviano (3 G, 1 A), Heidi Cross (2 G, 2 A), Maggie Borek (3 G), Maggie Morrissey (2 G 1 A) and Sydney Wanner (2 G, 1 A). Sadie Hess made five saves.

GA also beat Gwynedd Mercy Academy, 18-10 in a game it led 9-5 at halftime.

Heidi Cross led the way with five goals and two assists. Smigiel and Borek each contributed three goals. In a 14-12 win over Villa Maria Academy, Hadley Harbert had nine saves. Borek had four goals while Cross and Goodwin added three each. Raven contributed two goals and three assists.

In the one-goal loss to Penn Charter Smigiel had a hat trick while Goodwin added two goals.

Germantown Academy vs. Baldwin School. (video/Geanine Jamison for PSD)

Germantown Academy vs. Baldwin School (photos/Geanine Jamison for PSD)

Academy of Notre Dame earns first win

After opening with four losses, Academy of Notre Dame got on the winning track with an 11-10 win at the Hill School.

“This was a great full team win,” Notre Dame coach Austin Martin said. “After coming off some tough losses, the team worked as a full unit for the entirety of the game. They communicated well from one end to the other and did not let up at all.”

A win like that obviously does wonders for the team’s confidence.

“It was great to see them celebrating the little things and talking through changes that needed to be made,” Martin said. “Winning the draw and having possession was key today and helped us to stay composed and get into a rhythm offensively.”

In the win, Notre Dame led 8-7 at halftime and then the defenses took over.

According to Martin, a defensive standout was Mia Vitanzo.

“She played great 1v1 defense and was constantly there for the help when a crash was called,” Martin said.

Katie Onderdonk had four goals, eight draw controls and four ground balls while Kylee O’Donnell contributed three goals and Maeve Seeger added two goals and five draw controls. MK Dwyer and Aly Maguire each had a goal while Maggie Sullivan contributed six saves.

Tough Non-League loss for Agnes Irwin School

Besides the difficulty of the Inter-Ac, Agnes Irwin, like the rest of the teams in the league, faces a challenging non-league schedule. The most recent non-league came against Archbishop Carroll of the Philadelphia Catholic League, which beat host Agnes Irwin, 13-9.

Marissa White led the way for Agnes Irwin with four goals and five draw controls while Cate Parsells added three goals and four draw controls.

Other goal scorers were Sydney Wilson, and Molly Chorin, who also added an assist.

Agnes Irwin’s first Inter-Ac win came last month in a 12-9 win over Springside Chestnut Hill Academy as White, who is headed to the University of North Carolina, exploded for six goals and six draw controls.

Baldwin School providing plenty of offense

Despite a 25-14 Inter-Ac loss to Germantown Academy, the Baldwin School received two impressive performances from Katie Reed and Clara Page. Reed had seven goals, along with one assist, five draw controls and two ground balls.

Page chipped in with five goals, two assists, four draw controls and two caused turnovers.

The other goal scorers were Lauren Halak, who also had an assist and Savannah Rhodes, who also added two assists and one caused turnover.

Before that, Baldwin earned its first win, a 19-1 triumph over Germantown Friends as 10 different players scored, led by Page, who had five goals and Thea Rosenzweig, who added three.

In a wild game with plenty of twists, Baldwin and Shipley played to a 14-14 draw.

Apsara Reese contributed 11 saves for Baldwin, while Page had a team-high seven goals. The other goal scorers were Katie Reed, who had a hat trick, Rhodes (2), while Halak and Anya Berlanska with one each.