Garvey
17
Winner OCC ONONDAGA 13-3
6
Howard HOWARD 14-3
Winner
OCC ONONDAGA
13-3
17
Final
6
Howard HOWARD
14-3
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
OCC ONONDAGA 9 8 17
Howard HOWARD 2 4 6

Game Recap: Women's Lacrosse |

Dragons Incredible Season Comes to an End at NJCAA Semi-Finals

Star Howard Community College women's lacrosse goalkeeper Ellie Garvey (Elkridge, MD, Francis Scott Key) came up with 8 saves and forced Onondaga CC to go 0-7 on free position attempts, but the #2 ranked Lazers were too strong on the day as they defeated the #3 ranked Dragons 17-6. The historic season in which the Dragons made their first appearance to the national tournament in program history ended in the NJCAA semi-finals in Rochester, NY.

Despite defeating Onondaga at the Dragons Lair in the regular season, HCC came into the game as the under dogs; especially being short-handed on defense as their captain and most consistent defensive player Nicole Cote (Elkridge, MD, Long Reach High School) was serving a one game suspension for the red card she picked up in the Region XX tournament final victory against Harford CC last week. When asked what this season has meant to the team, Cote said "Everything. This was a season for the books; we made history and had fun doing it."

The Dragons fell behind just 43 seconds into the game on a quick draw control and goal for the Lazers' Cheyenne Burman. Ivana Yakovleff (Columbia, MD, Springbrook High School) took a low free position shot that was saved and the Lazers scored in transition to take a quick 2-0 lead.

Cassidy Delaney (Ellicott City, MD, Marriotts Ridge High School) picked up a yellow card dangerous check that saw the Dragons man-down which allowed Onondaga to take a 4-0 lead just over 8 minutes into the game. Coach Ponchione called a timeout to calm his side down, but Gannon Costello (Ellicott City, MD, Seton Keough High School) was unable to convert on a free position shot after Delaney got the draw control. Delaney got a 2nd yellow card just 10 minutes later on another dangerous check to the head which left the Dragons without their best goal-scorer for the final 45 minutes of the game.

HCC finally got on the scoreboard with 12 minutes left in the first half as Silvia Kim (Clarksville, MD, River Hill High School) dodged inside and finished with a low shot as the recent assist master was forced to become more of a goal-scorer on the day. OCC got the goal back less than a minute later as Burnam completed an 18 minute hat trick followed closely by teammate Madison Pritchard who finished her hat trick after 19 minutes as each ended up with 6 goals in the game.

Audrey Ford (Woodbine, MD, Glenelg HS) became the second Dragon to score as her free position shot from a tough angle was able to slip past the Lazers goalie as HCC cut the deficit to 8-2, but once again OCC answered back quickly as the first half ended with the Dragons trailing 9-2.

The second half started no better as it took the Lazers just 10 seconds to get back on the scoreboard. This time the Dragons responded back quickly as Rebeka Coughlin (Sykesville, MD, Liberty High School) took a free position attempt behind the crease and found Yakovleff open in the middle with a nice pass and a low finish for Yakovleff into the side netting. After another Lazers goal, Coughlin got another try at a free position and this time she bounced a shot into the top of the OCC net for her only goal of the game.

With the Lazers up 12-4, a yellow card by Jordan Osborne allowed the Dragons their first chance for a man-up opportunity. A turnover by the Dragons gave the Lazers goalie possession of the ball, but was caught trying to waste time and the ensuing turnover allowed Heather Veli (Burtonsville, MD, Blake High School) to pass the ball to Ford who finished an open net goal.

Coughlin was able to get the Dragons on the board again when she gathered a ground ball and found Kim who was able to slot in her second goal of the game, but the Lazers were still leading 15-6 with just 7 minutes left in the game. A couple more OCC goals later, the clock ran out on the Dragons season as they fell to the favored team from Syracuse 17-6.

Coach Brett Ponchione, who just finished his first season as HCC head coach, gave credit to Onondaga for the victory. "First, hats off to Onondaga. They are a well-coached team with tons of talent and depth; they really came out to play today. They got up early and I think we struggled to find our offensive consistency. We failed to capitalize several times when we did cause turnovers."

However, Ponchione surmises that the season on the whole was an incredible success for the program. "This was a new stage for us to play on; it was a great learning experience and we had an absolutely wonderful time. While the loss hurts, and we hate to see the season end, it will not take anything away from the season that we had. I could not be any more proud of this group of young ladies. They have come so far in the last four months."

Ponchione's last words of the season were to reflect upon this year's incredible sophomore class. "We will miss terribly the players that are moving on and we look forward to next fall as we continue to build on what we accomplished this year.
 
 
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