SPRINGFIELD, PA- Coming in hot, Archbishop Carroll made quick work of Cardinal O’Hara, beating the Lions 18-2 this past Friday afternoon. Moral victories normally are nothing to take pride in, but I believe an exception can be made in the case of the Cardinal O’Hara Girls Lacrosse team.
Despite the lopsided loss, O’Hara managed to do something no other PCL team has done so far this season: score on Carroll. Prior to today’s game, Carroll (4-0) had outscored their previous PCL opponents 37-0. It might not seem like much, but hanging two points on Carroll is quite the feat.
Good feelings aside, the game really was all Carroll from start to finish. Carroll went on a 14-0 run before O’Hara (3-2) finally scored a goal on them with seven minutes left in the first; by that point the game was all but over.
Cardinal O’Hara head coach Allison Lovejoy did a good job of calming her team at the half and not letting the huge deficit get them overworked. Her words had some effect as the team held Carroll to only three goals the rest of the game; although Carroll was trying to just eat the clock for the majority of the second half.
“I think they played harder and played better defense, I also think they moved the ball a little quicker too,” said Lovejoy about her team’s second half performance.
A big issue for O’Hara on the day was ball movement; they had very little.
O’Hara had a tough time gaining possession and when they did have the ball, they had no where to go with it.
Carroll’s defensive line played like a team of sharks in the water, they would ravenously swarm any O’Hara player with possession and stifle any potential play opportunity.
ARCHBISHOP CARROLL vs. CARDINAL O'HARA
O’Hara was unable to push the ball down the field because whoever they would pass the ball to would immediately get swallowed by black jerseys.
This was one area coach Lovejoy said the team is going to continue to improve upon.
“Getting out of midfield double teams when we are trying to transition the ball down, it’s something we’ve been working on all week and something that we’re going to keep working on,” said Lovejoy.
Lovejoy felt her team played their hearts out and showed some good things against one of the best teams in the Delaware County.
O’Hara continues league action against John W. Hallahan on Wednesday, April 20th at River Field.
Archbishop Carroll faces Little Flower away this Tuesday, April 19th.