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Megan Quinn leads the way in Atholton Victory

By Monica D'Ippolito (Baltimore Sun), 04/06/16, 2:15PM EDT

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Megan Quinn leads the way in Atholton Victory

After nearly two weeks off from its season-opening win, Atholton headed back on the field Wednesday and handed hosting Reservoir its first loss of the year.

“This is our second game of the season so it’s awesome to play a really competitive team in the county. I think it gives us a lot to work on and some really promising stuff for the season,” said first-year Raiders coach Kelly McGrath after the 10-6 victory. “I think definitely in the second half we had a lot more possession. First half they were controlling the ball a lot so our defense was playing great man-to-man defense and our goalies had some phenomenal saves, both of them in both halves. For us for ball possession, we’re really working on that composure and that leadership of when to drive, when not to force it (and) I think we’re doing pretty well.”

Haley Tiller opened up the game with a goal for the Gators about two minutes in, but Atholton responded with three consecutive scores from KK Shepherd, Rachel Foster and Meaghan Quinn. The 3-0 run allowed the Raiders to establish a cushion early on, and maintain the lead throughout the rest of the game.

“In the beginning we struggled a little bit with forcing passes, but in the end we really tried to finish our good opportunities and not just throw the ball away,” Quinn said after helping her team improve to 2-0 on the year. “It was really good. Reservoir, it’s always a tough game against them. It’s always really competitive. We’re, I don’t know, rivals so we’re always really competitive against Reservoir. We came back into practice and our intensity was really high, a lot higher than in the past so that helps us a lot.”

 

Juliet King got Reservoir within one midway through the half, cutting the deficit 3-2, but the Gators couldn’t take advantage of Atholton’s miscues early on. Quinn extended the Raiders lead 4-2 with about eight minutes left in the half, while Emma Johnson netted another for Atholton with 4:32 remaining until the break. On both offensive possessions, Reservoir played solid defensively and forced a turnover, but had trouble clearing its zone and ultimately gave possession back to Atholton, who in-turn took advantage.

Atholton vs. Reservoir: girls lacrosse

Atholton and Reservoir compete during the girls lacrosse game at Reservoir High School in Fulton, MD on Wednesday, April 6, 2016.

(Staff Photos by Jen Rynda)

“I think it kills any momentum that you try and generate in the course of a game. Anytime you have a great defensive stand – we couldn’t build the momentum off of it to dig ourselves out,” said first-year Gators coach P.J. Harrison. “A lot of talent, but all the little things add up and that’s what I said to them at the end of the game. We have to make better decisions because we have to, when we cause a turnover, we have to be able to capitalize on it. When we have possession we need to be able to capitalize on it. If we capitalize on the times when we do have possession then it’s a closer ball game. But unfortunately, it didn’t happen today.”

Atholton went into the break touting a 6-3 advantage, but Tiller soon cut the lead down to two after finishing off a feed from Greta Schuster to open up the second half.

The Raiders remained patient offensively, and did well slowing down the tempo and waiting for good looks at the cage. Quinn added her third goal of the contest with about 20 minutes to play, which propelled an Atholton 4-0 run.

Emma Johnson finished off a pass from Ashley Martin on the ensuing score, pushing the Raiders lead 8-4, midway through the half.

Reservoir showed its frustration down the stretch as the deficit grew. The Gators were handed three yellow cards in the final 25 minutes, which Atholton capitalized off of.

Kelley Flynn and Foster were the beneficiaries during the man-up situations, as Flynn put away a free position and Foster buried a pass from Megan Hart – extending the lead 10-4.

“I think the cards – the (three) cards, are a composure problem, losing our composure a little bit in the frustration of not being able to generate any of that momentum and I think you can see that,” Harrison said. “You can see that frustration in the girls and of course on the sidelines here.”

The Gators kept grinding and put away two more goals late by Tiller and King, but couldn’t overcome the six-point deficit and ultimately suffered their first loss of the season.

“Basically I told them that we really just needed to work on some fundamentals and some decision making was really the down fall,” Harrison said. “I think had we made some better decisions, and maybe handle the ball a little bit better it might have been a little bit closer and a little bit more of a competitive game.”

Reservoir was led by King and Tiller, who each tallied three goals, respectively, while in net Elizabeth Hyde had a strong showing as she registered six saves in the game. The Gators have a difficult stretch coming up with three tough county opponents.

“It’s only our third game; we have a long season,” added Harrison. “So we head into Mt. Hebron on Friday, Centennial and Marriotts Ridge, so it’s a tough stretch but we got a chance to work on some things tomorrow and we’ll see if we can turn some things around.”

For the Raiders, Quinn and Foster led the way offensively with three goals apiece, while Quinn also notched an assist in the game. Johnson added two goals, while Martin finished with two assists.

“We definitely work everyday on possession and working on that wide open opportunity, for that 100 percent nice look at the cage,” McGrath said. “So we’re doing a great job of composure and when is the appropriate time to drive and challenging your defense and cutting and clearing for each other –so we’re doing pretty well.”

Quinn also did an outstanding job on the draw, especially against one of the top draw-specialist in the league in Reservoir’s Michelle Armstrong. The senior midfielder helped Atholton win 11-of-18 draw controls in the game.

“I just tried to counteract what she’s doing. I know she’s really strong and good at pushing it, so I tried pulling it and let her push it into my stick and use it to my advantage. Our people on the circle are really strong and fast too, so it worked really well. I got it to Rachel Foster a lot of times. She’s really good off the circle too,” Quinn said, as she and the Raiders gear up for their next matchup against undefeated Glenelg Friday. “We’re excited to see Glenelg. They’ll be a really tough team too. We just got to keep up the intensity and keep doing well.”

Atholton (2-0) 10, Reservoir (2-1) 6 (Wednesday, April 6)

Goals: A – M. Quinn 3, Foster 3, Johnson 2, Shepherd 1, Flynn 1; Re – Tiller 3, King 3.

Assists: A – Martin 2, M. Quinn 1, Johnson 1, Shepherd 1, Dabney 1; Re – Schuster 1, Tiller 1, Sadzewicz 1.

Saves: A – Eaton 3, Bizokas 7; Re – Hyde 6.

Halftime: 6-3 Atholton.