By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – The Guerin Catholic girls lacrosse team has been busy during these first three weeks of the season – and productive.
The defending Class 2A state champion Golden Eagles ran their record to 7-1 Tuesday night with a victory over county opponent Noblesville, 13-6 at the Millers’ Beaver Materials Field. Guerin Catholic led 11-2 at halftime.
Golden Eagles coach Joe Bellflower was pleased with how his team played, both on offense and on defense. Katherine Constantino picked up five ground balls, while Alex Soucie collected three and Gabby Deer had two.
“Our defense is solid,” said Bellflower. “We’re returning all of our starters from last year.” The coach estimated that his team is allowing “maybe four goals a game at the most.”
Soucie scored five goals for GC, with Deer getting two goals. Six more Golden Eagles players scored one goal: Sarah Jacoby, Constantino, Jane Cline, Lila Jones, Sophia Adolay and Caroline Ford. Deer and Constantino both had one assist. Ruth Abdalla had four goalkeeper saves and Audrey Papay had three.
Guerin Catholic won its first five games of the year before last Saturday, when the Golden Eagles took a trip to Louisville. Kentucky Country Day handed Guerin its first loss of the year, a 10-5 setback, but the Golden Eagles rebounded to beat Louisville Eastern 14-4. Soucie scored four goals in that game and Ford had three, while Constantino picked up six ground balls.
The Golden Eagles host Westfield on Thursday before playing at Zionsville next Tuesday. Guerin Catholic then gets three weeks off before rolling through the second half of its schedule.
“We’re really happy,” said Bellflower. “Our offense needs a little bit of time to gel together. But things have been improving all season long. We’re real happy, happy with where we’re at right now.”
New Noblesville coach
Noblesville has a new coach this season. Wylie Crisanti is now mentoring the Millers, after coaching college and high school lacrosse in Florida.
“They welcomed me here and the team has been great,” he said.
Emma Hammond scored two goals for Noblesville, with Marisha Woehler, Hannah Miller, Lydia Dumas and Nataley Blackburn each scoring one. Chloe Barnett had two assists and collected two ground balls, with Miller also getting two ground balls.
Crisanti complimented the Millers’ attitude during the game, noting that they “won the second half 4-2,” including making a run at the end of the contest.
“The attitude’s the best part,” said Crisanti. “We’re a team. They know that. They stay together as a team even when we’re down and that allows us to come back and fight back when we need to. They don’t get down on themselves.”
Noblesville is 2-1 after getting wins over Cathedral and Avon last week. The Millers are off for Spring Break and return to action April 11 at Westfield.