EASTON — Saints Peter and Paul High girls head lacrosse coach Alison Beyer knew her team wasn’t playing to its potential.
So did sophomore standout Caroline Ewing.
“After the first quarter, Caroline, I could see it in her eyes. She let the team have it,” Beyer said. “Normally I give my spiel. And she said you guys better straighten up. ‘We know we’re better than this.’ Hearing it from a coach is one thing. But to hear it from her was a whole different thing. And I mean she meant business.”
Ewing scored six goals and set up three others, and goalie Kylie Kroniser made a huge foot save in the closing minute Saturday, as the Sabres outlasted upset-minded Easton, 14-13, in a Talbot Lacrosse Association Bull Roast classic.
“Obviously, we never play to not win,” Beyer said after the Sabres won their 13th straight game. “But for whatever reason I think we took today for granted. And Caroline never does not play to her full potential. She has matured so much this season both mentally and skillfully.”
Emily Currie (team-high five goals) converted passes from Dakota Lhotsky and Miranda Stup to give Easton (6-4) and 2-0 lead before the game was 2 minutes old.
It appeared the Warriors made it 3-0 moments later, but officials waved off the goal. Ewing gained possession and went from end to end before scoring to make it 2-1. Easton’s Anna Crist notched the first of her two goals to restore the home team’s two-goal lead. Ewing answered just 8 seconds later to make it a one-goal deficit again.
Back-to-back goals from Lhotsky — the second off a Currie feed — pushed the Warrior lead to 5-2 with 2:19 left in the opening quarter.
“We came out ready to play,” said Easton head coach Katie Lowman, who got a monster performance from goalie Zelia Proa. “I could not have asked them to do anything more. Saints Peter and Paul is incredibly talented. Most people probably didn’t expect the score to be that close.”
Ewing again responded, scoring twice in a 31-second window to pull Sts. Peter & Paul within 5-4 at the end of the first quarter.
“She really took control of today’s game,” Beyer said of Ewing.
Easton was far from finished.
Stup set up another Currie goal to make it 6-4 with 16 seconds elapsed in the second quarter.
Ewing scored her fifth goal, then set up Morgan Quade’s first to forge a 6-all tie with 8:05 left in the second. A little over a minute later, Emery Zimmerman gave the Sabres (13-1) their first lead at 7-6. Easton’s Addie Knox (three goals) scored to create the game’s second tie.
But Ewing scored her sixth goal before Eden Zimmerman and Emery Zimmerman each converted free-position chances for a 10-7 Sabres lead with 1:32 to go in the first half.
Kylie Kroniser then drew a yellow card for incidently hitting an Easton player in the head while attempting a clear. Knox and Currie scored in the final minute of the first half to get the Warriors within 10-9. Myka Motovidlak then tied the game 50 seconds into the third quarter.
Emery Zimmerman nudged the Sabres back in front. Stup set up Currie’s final goal to tie the game for a fourth time at 11-11.
Again Ewing took charge, setting up goals by Eden Zimmerman and Quade just 34 seconds apart for a lead the Sabres never surrendered at 13-11. Quade completed her hat trick with just under 2 minutes left in the third to make it 14-11.
“The dynamic of her and Quade has been something,” Beyer said of Ewing and her senior star, who on Wednesday went over 200 goals and 400 points for her high school career. “I wish there was more time for those two to play together. The relationship of their play has been something to see. And it really showed today more than any past games.”
Easton put together one last flurry, Crist scoring with 4:38 left, and Knox making it 14-13 with 1:59 left. Currie then earned a free-position chance with under a minute left and fired a low shot that Kylie Kroniser stopped with her foot. Kendall Kroniser gained position, eluded two Warriors, then raced down the sideline as the Sabres drained the remaining clock.
“I was so nervous,” Kylie Kroniser said. “I was very stressed but I just kept calm. I kept my cool. I wasn’t emotional about it like last year. But the foot save was the best.”
While Beyer said the Kronisers helped “save the day”, she also praised the play of Proa, who stoped a slew of close-range shots to keep the Warriors in the game from start to finish.
“Their goalie was on fire,” Beyer said. “She was phenomenal.”
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