The Manual girls’ varsity lacrosse team beat Mercy on Tuesday night after a close back-and-forth game. In the end, the resulting score was 10-9.
The game was also deemed Yellow Night to honor the head coach Dean Walker’s daughter, Savannah Walker, who tragically lost her life due to gun violence. The players all wore yellow shirts prior to the game, also handing him a bouquet of yellow roses.
“It was a night honoring Savannah. She always played with heart and we represented her tonight,” Jasmine Smith (#8, 11) said.
First Quarter:
Manual’s Audrey Donaldson (#33, 12) won the first draw of the night, gaining possession for the Lady Crimsons to start off the first quarter.
Mercy’s Caillin Heinz (#32, 12) ended up gaining possession of the ball and attempted a shot on Manual’s goal. It was blocked by the Manual goalie, Shaina Silliman (#52, 12), though.
Molly Burke (#24, 11) ended up stealing the ball from Mercy, paving the way for a Manual possession at Mercy’s end of the field. Manual’s Sarudzai Charasika (#11, 11) then got a free position and scored off of it, making the score 1-0.
Mercy then got possession of the ball after the draw, with an almost immediate score by Heinz to tie the game at 1-1.
During the draw this time, Manual won the draw and took the ball down the field for an attempted shot on Mercy’s goal. The shot was ultimately caught by Mercy’s goalie.
Mercy’s Heinz counter-reacted quickly and scored again, running by Manual’s box. Her shot put Mercy in the lead, 2-1.
Manual got possession of the ball again off the draw where ultimately after being passed around, Manual’s Donaldson got possession of the ball, spun around the defender and scored. Her spin move tied the game again at 2-2.
But Mercy’s offense struck back again with Heinz taking the ball away from the Lady Crimsons and scoring again, this time to end the first quarter. This goal put Mercy back in the lead at 3-2.
Second Quarter:
The second quarter started off strong with Manual’s Charasika attempting a shot, but getting fouled in the process. Charasika had a free position and scored her second goal of the night, tying the game, 3-3.
Mercy got possession of the ball back from Manual after the draw, where Mercy’s Lilly Jones (#41, 12) got passed the ball and scored. This goal put the Jaguars back in the lead again at 4-3.
Following this during the draw, the ball went wide to Manual’s Charasika who scooped it up, and Manual’s offense took the ball to Mercy’s side of the field. Manual’s Smith then got the ball and went around the back of the goal where she shot the ball in for another Manual goal. The score was then tied again, 4-4.
“I felt really good and hyped after my goal. All the hard work really paid off in that moment, and I’m glad I could contribute to the team,” Smith said.
Later on after the draw, Manual’s offense was around the Mercy goal and Donaldson got passed the ball and while on the run, she shot and scored. This made the score, 5-4, and gave the Lady Crimsons the lead.
Manual’s offense then seemingly worked in overtime, scoring another goal after Mercy attempted to defend, this one by Ava Schickel (#16, 10). Manual was now up 6-4.
During the next draw, Mercy got the ball after being fouled and went down to Manual’s side of the field. Mercy’s Heinz then got fouled and scored off the free position, closing the scoring gap, 6-5, right as the buzzer sounded for halftime.
Third Quarter:
To start off the third quarter, Manual’s offense gained the ball following the draw, but ended up losing possession to Mercy. The Jaguar’s Macy McGrath (#42, 11) took the opportunity and ran up to the Lady Crimsons’ goal and scored, tying the game again, with the score now 6-6.
After the draw, Manual’s Janie Mundell (#3, 12) had a breakaway and ran down the field, where she scored for 7-6. Her shot put the Lady Crimsons back in the lead once again.
Mercy’s Heinz then took the ball and attempted a shot on the goal, but it was denied by Manual’s goalie, Silliman. The Lady Crimsons took the opportunity and Sammie Haden (#27, 12) weaved through defenders to Mercy’s goal and scored, improving Manual’s score to 8-6.
After an attempted Manual goal, Mercy got the ball back and passed it off to Heinz who once again shot across the goal and scored. The Jaguars’ goal made the score 8-7, with Manual still in the lead.
Later after the draw, Mercy had yet another good run. The Jaguars offense passed it to McGrath who scored as she stood in between Manual’s defenders, tying the game yet again, with the score now 8-8.
Manual then got the ball from the draw, and Mundell ran around the goal and passed it to Manual’s Morgan Schmidt (#9, 12), who shot the ball and scored. Their play put the Lady Crimsons back in the lead at 9-8.
Mercy’s offense immediately came back out and responded with a goal of their own by Heinz, however. The Jaguars’ goal tied the game 9-9 as the end of the quarter came to.
Fourth Quarter:
Manual’s Donaldson won the draw to start the last quarter and passed the ball off to the midfielders.
Manual’s Charasika then scored her third goal of the night off another free position. Charasika’s goal put the Crimsons ahead at 10-9.
“I felt on fire and I think it hypes everyone up so much whenever we score, so it’s very exciting,” Charasika said.
Manual’s defense was able to hold off Mercy’s attacks for the remainder of the game, including a block by Silliman.
Manual’s girls varsity team ended up with a win of 10-9 over the Jaguars. Their next game will be on Friday at CAL’s Icebreaker Tournament against South Oldham at 6:30 p.m.
