By working together, Pine-Richland girls lacrosse earns state playoff win

By: Jerin Steele
Sunday, June 11, 2023 | 11:01 AM

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Throughout the season, first-year Pine-Richland girls lacrosse coach Shannen Drennon said the team is at its best when it is creating assisted goals.

That formula certainly worked wonders in the Rams’ first-round state playoff game as they had 14 assists in a rout of District 10 champ McDowell, 20-2, on June 6.

It was the second state playoff win in team history. In 2012, the Rams defeated State College, 16-9, in the first round.

“That’s something we really take pride in,” senior attacker Hannah Young said. “We’re a really good team that works together. We want to see our teammates succeed and want to build our teammates up. To have that many goals with an assist is super impressive. That’s something we take to heart.”

Young had six goals and two assists in the win over McDowell. Caroline Gentile contributed a pair of goals and six assists. Madeline Mill and Lily Hynds registered a hat trick each.

The Rams led 14-2 at halftime and continued to be dominant in the second half, shutting out the Trojans, 6-0.

“I’m just so happy and proud of everyone on our team,” Gentile said. “We’ve changed so many things and built ourselves up as a team. Everyone wanted to win the WPIAL championship. It was the same going into (the McDowell game), and we had a good team win. It’s a little scary going into a game after two weeks off. You really don’t know what to expect, but we played really well.”

Aside from good passing, another area that made the Rams dangerous was the sheer number of players that scored. They had eight goal scorers. Kendyll Jerry scored twice. Taylor Wilkinson, Ashley Woodward, Ella Tarasovich and Mary Dziubek contributed a goal each.

“What we look at as coaches is how many different threats we have,” Drennon said. “We typically have at least six or seven every game. That contributes to how successful we are.”

The Rams added a third WPIAL title and first since 2018 when they beat Mt. Lebanon, 12-11, on May 25. Getting a state playoff win and having it be a home game was another accomplishment added to the list. It was a nice sendoff for the seniors: Gentile, Young, Hynds, Dziubek, Emma Westerhoff, Kayla Karmanos and Mary Wymard.

“We just wanted a win for their last home game,” Drennon said. “Sadly, it’s the last time they are going to play on this field, so the fact that these seniors can walk off with a great win in the first round of states and move on is a good ending to this chapter of their lacrosse careers. They left this field losing once to Mars this year and that’s it. We asked them what legacy they wanted to leave. They proved that they won WPIALs for a reason.”

There was still one more big event for the Rams seniors on their home field. They were scheduled to graduate June 9. Then they were set to play District 1 runner up Penncrest in the PIAA 3A quarterfinals the next day at a neutral site.

Getting to play beyond graduation is something the team is not taking for granted.

“I would’ve said that maybe there’s a possibility that we played after graduation, but I don’t think I would’ve said definitely 100%,” Gentile said. “We’re happy to play beyond graduation.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

Tags: Pine-Richland