OPENING DRAW
Cumberland Valley, a squad known for its high scoring attack, got a lift from its defenders and senior goalie Liz Pierson Thursday afternoon as it pulled away from York Catholic 15-6 in a District 3 girls' lacrosse quarterfinal at Hershey High School.
Pierson was sharp as ever between the posts and finished with 13 saves, while Emma Hager and Ania Gradzka combined for nine goals to send the the Eagles into next Tuesday's District 3 semifinals against Lancaster Country Day, a 9-8 winner of top seed Exeter. Opening draw is set for 7 p.m. back at Hershey.
Hager finished with a game-high five goals and Gradzka scored four, while Anna Schneeberger chipped in two goals and two assists as CV heads to the district semifinals for the first time since 2011.
PIVOTAL SEQUENCE
Although Cumberland Valley never trailed in this one, the Eagles' lead stood at just 9-5 with over 13 minutes to play and Ashley Ingram's goal with 6:32 left had the Fighting Irish within 10-6.
But York Catholic, the YAIAA champs, needed to take some chances defensively and that allowed Gradzka to score a pair of key unassisted goals, while Hager added two more to make it 13-6 with 3:55 to play. The Eagles ended the game on a 5-0 run.
PIERSON'S PLAY
The Eagles' senior goalie was seeing the ball exceptionally well as evidenced by her 13 stops. She made several key saves in the first half, including low saves on restarts from Shannon Moore and Sarah Gabriele. In the second half, Pierson stopped Natalie Fiorenza on two straight restarts.
BETWEEN THE POSTS
Moore led York Catholic with two goals, while Domenica Shellenberger got stronger in net and finished with six saves. ... Ingram won five draws for the Irish. ... Defender Maura Palandro finished with nine ground balls for YC, while Hager had six for Cumberland Valley. ... Rachel Harman, who scored eight times in Tuesday's opening round win over Elizabethtown, finished with two goals and an assist for the Eagles.