Low seed fuels Franklin Regional girls lacrosse into WPIAL final

By: HSSN Staff
Saturday, May 19, 2018 | 9:45 PM

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Don't look now, but there's a dark horse roaming through the WPIAL Class AA girls lacrosse bracket. Its colors are navy blue and Vegas gold and has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

No. 6 seeded Franklin Regional is the perfect example of what happens when talent catches up to potential as the Panthers are playing their best lacrosse of the season and are riding a six-game winning streak into Monday's semifinal matchup against No. 7 Quaker Valley.

“There's no doubt in our minds that it doesn't stop here,” Franklin Regional coach Mackenzie McGuire said. “If they want to make a run at (a) WPIAL (championship), they can't slow down. Each one of us as individuals needs to reflect on how we can improve.”

Franklin Regional will travel to face the Quakers at 6 p.m. at Seneca Valley. The other semifinal match between No. 1 Hampton and No. 4 Mars immediately follows.

Slowing down shouldn't be a problem. The Panthers pounced on No. 11 North Catholic in the first round when sophomore midfielder Noelle Boyd scored four of her five goals in the first five minutes of the game. Franklin Regional (15-3) went on to down the Trojans, 15-7.

“Honestly, I didn't think we were going to do as well this year as we did last year,” Boyd said. “I really thought last year was going to be there, and now this year's going to be the year.”

Boyd played a different role in Wednesday's match against No. 3 seed Seton LaSalle. While she scored a hat trick, Boyd's skills around the goal had her faceguarded by Rebel defenders for most of the game. That kind of attention opened the door for the Panthers' leading scorer, Christina Hodowanec, who had five goals. Angie Giannangeli added a hat trick, and Francesca Giacchino scored a pair of goals to lead the Panthers to a 15-4 upset over the Rebels.

“If you can dodge traffic, you can dodge a ball,” joked Hodowanec, who has 11 goals in the playoffs. “I'd say that our offense is really coming together. We see ourselves more as a team than individual players, and when you put it all together, it makes for a strong team.”

Franklin Regional played a near-perfect game against the Rebels, and the Panthers played the second half with a “running clock.”

“They worked as a unit, and we knew little more about Seton LaSalle than we did about North Catholic,” said McGuire said. “Hey, we had a running clock against the No. (3) seed in the playoffs.”

It was a late-season loss to Ellis that galvanized the Panthers. It was a tough loss to swallow for the ambitious group, and it cost them at least a share of the Section 1-2A title. Franklin Regional knew deep down they were a much better team than what they had shown and in a way, it motivated the team.

“A lot of our girls were starters last year and a lot of the others also played last year,” McGuire said. “I think they know what happens when you get content and complacent.”

Coming off a tough loss in the 2017 semifinals and suffering three one-goal losses during the regular season was nothing compared to the reaction from the players and coaches when the WPIAL released its Class 2A brackets a few weeks ago. With the way the Panthers were playing late in the season and having beaten two of the top three seeds during the regular season, McGuire felt they were snubbed a little by getting the No. 6 seed. But just like anything else, the Panthers used it as motivation.

“When we got our seeding, the coaches and the girls were upset with how low we finished in the rankings,” McGuire said. “I said, ‘Well, I guess we got to prove ourselves.' ”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Franklin Regional