Bulldogs rally past Lady Bills, 15-11
By BILL CAIN, The Leader-Herald
POSTED: May 14, 2008
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That’s what Johnstown girls’ lacrosse coach Denise Benton said of her timeout talk that put her girls on a scoring run to finish the first half. After Johnstown’s honored its seniors at halftime, however, South Glens Falls came back and posted a 15-11 win.
Johnstown trailed 5-1 with 7:36 to play in the first half, but in a timeout, Benton got her players refocused and watched them go on a 6-1 run to close the half with a 7-6 lead.
“They need constant reinforcement that they’re strong and they’re good,” Benton said. “They [South Glens Falls] are tough, but we can be tough and tougher. I told them to be smarter and get themselves open. I specifically said to the defense to get their sticks up, stay strong and move their feet. They did that.”
Benton said when the Lady Bills work hard as a team it not only makes them feel better about themselves, but can throw the opposing team back on its heels.
Senior Nicole Looman started the comeback with an unassisted goal with 7:05 left in the half. Kelsey Palcovic added another and back-to-back tallies from Adele Friello brought the Lady Bills within a goal. Jami Murray tied the game with 1:24 left in the half and Palcovic found Kristin Wilson for the go-ahead just 29.2 seconds before the horn.
Looman said the Lady Bills were pumped up for the game, which was originally scheduled during an early spring thunderstorm. After 27 minutes, in which Johnstown built a 14-7 lead, the game was called because of impending weather and the teams had to start the contest from scratch.
“We were working better together and talking,” Looman said. “We were excited because we had to redo this game. We were fired up.”
Both Looman and fellow senior Kara Gagliardo said the 15-5 loss at South High was a bad game for the Lady Bills and they expected to do better in the rematch.
After the surge to finish the first half and the halftime ceremonies, South High started to come back quickly. Gagliardo said the turnaround was not related to the senior day ceremonies, they were just surprised by the increased intensity of the Bulldogs.
“I didn’t think they would come out as strong as they did in the second half,” she said. “I don’t think the senior day got to us, I just think we overdid some things.”
Gagliardo led the Lady Bills with three goals. Friello and Wilson both scored twice. Looman, Murray and Palcovic all scored once, with Palcovic and Erica Kelly adding an assist apiece. Michelle Raspanti made seven saves and Kelsey Schrum made one.
South High retook the lead with 18:50 left in the game on an unassisted goal by Taira Mandy, who finished with six goals for the Bulldogs.
Olivia Ciuffetelli added two more goals before Johnstown found the net again, giving South High an 11-8 lead. Ciuffetelli finished with four goals and an assist. Brittney Ciuffo had two assists, Christine Place had two goals, Lauren Leeson had two goals and Lindsey Farr had one goal. In goal, Nicole Leroux had eight saves.
At halftime, South High coach Dawn DeLisle did some reinforcing of her own, reminding the Bulldogs of how well they were capable of playing, but weren’t.
“I really just told them it was up to them,” DeLisle said. “They had this game and they were letting their guard down, not playing up to their potential. It was up to them what they were going to do.”
When the Bulldogs were forced to set up their offense, the Johnstown defense was tight enough to survive the threat. It was when the South High girls were on a fast break or had a restart near the goal that they were most effective.
“They’re so fast, they’re smart and they move quickly,” Benton said of the Bulldogs. “When you don’t move as fast, it hurts. You’ve got to get the ball off the draw. That, or if you don’t, you’ve got to get the ground ball and you’ve got to get it quickly. That does hurt us, but we can do it when we settle down and don’t panic.”
DeLisle said it’s nice to have speed, but it would be worth less if the Bulldogs (12-3 overall, 9-3 Foothills Council) had not developed their stick skills.
“We also have a lot of talent as far as our stickwork and our shots,” she said. “You can’t do anything if you can’t catch the ball, but we are fortunate to have the speed we have to break away from the pack.”
The Lady Bills (3-13 overall) trailed 14-9, but went down shooting, scoring twice more before the final horn.
“We just had to regroup,” Looman said. “When we calm ourselves down instead of just freaking out, we do so much better.”
The Lady Bills have one game remaining on the new FieldTurf on Knox Field, but held their senior festivities Tuesday. Gagliardo said it was nice to break in the field for the future generations of Johnstown girls’ lacrosse teams.
“There definitely weren’t any holes,” said Gagliardo, who had played her previous years of lacrosse on the fields behind the high school. “I was glad we were the first team to play on it.”
