Spalding girls lacrosse holds off John Carroll for 12-10 win in IAAM A Conference quarterfinals

Thanks to Gabby Greene’s five goals, including one late in the fourth quarter, Archbishop Spalding was able to hold off John Carroll, 12-10, in the IAAM A Conference quarterfinals.

Greene, who has committed to playing college lacrosse next season at Florida, scored goals in each quarter of Friday’s playoff opener. The senior midfielder was an asset all over the field for Spalding, earning five draws controlled and picking up two turnovers.

“She’s been a force to be reckoned with all year,” Spalding coach Tara Shea said. “I think every game that we have played this season, she has been able to do a ton of stuff to help us win. She had a huge game defensively as well on the draw circle and again provided the scoring spark that we needed. She shows up every single game and she’s just hard to handle.”

With the victory, Spalding, the fourth-seed in the tournament, moves onto the semifinals on Wednesday against the winner of McDonogh and Bryn Mawr.

As was the case in their previous two encounters this season (both victories for Spalding), Friday’s match was a high-scoring affair. John Carroll struck first with Sammie Bender slotting her low shot past goalkeeper Ella Davis.

Despite the early setback, Spalding showed its was up for the challenge. Using the speed of Ella Jane Ostrowski and Lilly Mullen, Spalding opened up the compact Patriots defense midway through the first quarter. That provided their attack with ample space to exploit with back-to-back goals from Maddie Wren and Greene giving them the 2-1 advantage.

John Carroll tied things up with 5:46 left when Haley Laurer poked a low shot past Davis, but Spalding’s attack continued to apply pressure, giving the Patriots little time to catch up. Greene added a second goal with seven seconds remaining in the first quarter.

“I think we really settled in [after the first goal] and we just continued to turn up the pressure,” Shea said.

Maeve Cavanaugh scored to increase Spalding’s lead to 4-2 early in the second quarter with a low shot past goalkeeper Julia Ward. John Carroll continued to fight with Pieper McCue putting one in the net, but Greene once again proved to be a thorn in their side, adding two more to end the half with the Cavaliers up 6-3.

Spalding pulled away in the third quarter. John Carroll’s Lydia Ward scoring her first of the game early in the frame, but Cavanaugh and Lilly Mullen came right back for Spalding to stretch its lead to four with successive darting runs towards goal.

John Carroll maintained a high level of pressure but was thwarted by Spalding defenders Carly Ross and Hadley Zurvalee. Whatever opportunities that did get through in the final minutes were halted by Davis. The sophomore goalkeeper had a busy afternoon for Spalding, but she more than held her own, making seven saves in tight spaces and controlling the pace of the match.

McCue added four more in the fourth quarter with Ward burying her second and Natalie Kelly adding a solo goal late, but Spalding’s early lead held thanks to insurance goals from Cavanaugh, Ostrowski and Greene, earning them the victory and a spot in the semifinals.

“We knew we’d have to come out here today and kind of get after this game early and not dig ourselves in,” Shea said. “I’m really proud of this team just as a as a whole on how we played today.”

GOALS: Archbishop Spalding: Gabby Greene- 5, Maeve Cavanaugh-4, Maddie Wren-1, Ella Jane Ostrowski-1, Lilly Mullen-1; John Carroll: Pieper McCue-5, Lydia Ward-2, Natalie Kelly-1, Haley Laurer-1, Sammie Bender-1