Plum girls lacrosse building momentum after slow start

By: Michael Love
Saturday, April 8, 2023 | 11:01 AM

The Plum girls lacrosse team hopes to continue its upward trend this spring, a year after the program captured its first WPIAL playoff victory.

With a strong nucleus back from last year’s team which went 14-4 overall and 8-2 in section play, optimism abounds as the Mustangs get in to the heart of their Section 1-2A schedule.

“We’re doing really well right now and are building momentum after kind of a rough start,” said junior Rayla Smith, the team leader in goals with 12 through her team’s first four games (2-2).

“We’re starting to pick it up, and the returning and new players are getting more comfortable with each other every practice and game.”

Smith, who also led the team in goals last year, has assisted on eight goals.

Senior Kylie Fischer owned eight goals and 10 assists heading into a key Section 1 home game Tuesday against Penn-Trafford.

“We are excited for what we can do in the section,” said Fischer who pointed to Penn-Trafford, Latrobe and Franklin Regional as teams who also are expected to contend for section laurels and WPIAL playoff spots.

Plum hopes to keep building momentum Thursday at home against section foe Greensburg Salem before a road trip Friday to Latrobe.

It doesn’t get any easier for the the Mustangs next week as they visit 2022 WPIAL semifinalist Hampton on Tuesday (April 18).

Plum hopes for a measure of revenge against the Talbots after they eliminated the Mustangs in last year’s WPIAL quarterfinals, just two days after Plum had celebrated its first WPIAL playoff win, a 16-3 rout of Seton LaSalle.

“We have a really good shot to beat Hampton this year,” Fischer said. “We know it will take everyone playing their best game.”

Plum and Franklin Regional have battled as rivals for bragging rights the past several seasons, and it will be no different when the teams face off at Franklin Regional on April 20.

“We definitely are becoming closer as a team and are building chemistry,” junior Allie Venanzi said.

“I hope we are hitting our stride as we enter a very important stretch of our season. It’s going to take everyone working together to win these games.”

Venanzi, Smith and Fischer are team captains this year along with juniors Sophie Anderson and Charlee Wastchak.

Plum started off the season with a tough 17-4 loss to Blackhawk and was on the short end of a 14-9 decision to Class 3A Upper St. Clair before rebounding to top Class 3A Norwin, 18-9.

The Mustangs kicked off section play last Tuesday with a dominating 24-2 victory over Yough.

The 13 assists as a team against the Cougars set a school record, while the five assists from Fischer also was a record for a single game.

“The two victories (Norwin and Yough) gave us a lot of momentum heading into some big section games,” Anderson said.

“Those first (four) games really showed us what we need to improve on and also what our strengths are to build on.”

Plum saw change at the top in the weeks leading up to the start of preseason practices as former head coach Kayla Platt left the program to take an assistant coaching position with the women’s lacrosse program at Chatham University.

New head coach Domenic Barnabei is no stranger to the program, having served as an assistant to Platt the past five years.

“It was a smooth transition because I knew the girls,” Barnabei said.

“Kayla did a wonderful job, and it was an easy task to take over because of the way they were coached. It was the right move for her to go to Chatham.

“The team is probably the strongest it has ever been. The team is still pretty young, but we have really talented players in each class. The present and future is bright.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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