Southern Lehigh girls lacrosse coach Kevin Cain was confident in sophomore midfielder Reese MacIntosh continuing her impressive scoring ways on the District 11 Class 2A championship stage on Wednesday night at Lehigh University.
It didn’t matter that she’s only a sophomore. MacIntosh’s 101 goals entering the final proved her incredible scoring ability.
The sophomore lived up to the hype in the championship game, tallying seven goals as the Spartans put together a convincing 14-5 victory over Allentown Central Catholic.
It was the second consecutive district championship for Spartans.
“I wouldn’t define it as worried because I preach to these girls and Reese obviously being one of them that big stages are for big-time players and big-time players have to make big-time plays,” Cain said. “Reese is one who doesn’t shy away from a challenge. She’s a gamer.”
“The pressure is definitely there in the beginning,” MacIntosh said. “But once we started winning all the draws and getting down there on offense. And just keep scoring and working together, I think that was our breaking point. Just working together.”
After MacIntosh scored her second goal of the game to tie the score 2-2 with 16:35 left in the first half, the Spartans went on a 10-0 scoring run over the next 26 minutes.
Junior Jessica Mantz gave Southern Lehigh a 3-2 lead with 8:40 left in the first half. It was then MacIntosh again just over two minutes later to make it a two-score game. Senior Iris Gluck added a goal with 5:10 remaining in the first half to increase the advantage to 5-2.
The top-seeded Spartans scored two more times in the final minute of the first half. Mantz made it 6-2 with 56 seconds on the clock. Then, it was another MacIntosh goal, but this time around it was senior midfielder Riley MacIntosh scoring with 15 seconds remaining.
Reese MacIntosh scored four goals in the second half for Southern Lehigh.
Riley MacIntosh, Gluck and Mantz each finished with two goals on the night for the Spartans, who improved to 18-2 on the season.
Senior goalkeeper Sophia Hoyer had four saves for Southern Lehigh, which put together an impressive defensive showing after beating the Vikettes 12-11 on April 22.
Freshman midfielder Kate Raymond scored three goals for Allentown Central Catholic, which finished the season with a 10-7 record.
“First of all, Southern Lehigh is really good,” Vikettes coach Taylor Holko said. “You got to give them credit for being prepared and playing at such a high level. Certainly, that played a big factor in our inability to score. It seemed like anytime that we would get a ball on the ground, they would be there to pick it up. Anytime we would think that we’d be able to get a clear, we’d turn it over. We just couldn’t get anything going.”
The Spartans will play the District 12 runner-up in the first round of the state tournament on Tuesday at a time and site to be determined.
Along with the state playoff berth giving Southern Lehigh an opportunity to improve after falling in last year’s opening round, the PIAA playoff game allows the MacIntosh sisters at least one more chance to play together.
“I love playing with my sister,” said Riley MacIntosh, who will play field hockey at Hofstra University. “She’s a really good athlete. She pushes me every day because I’m the older sister. I always want to be better in everything. She’s just really fun to play with. We have a great connection on the field and relationship off the field.”
“She’s had a big influence on me, especially in other sports like field hockey,” Reese MacIntosh said of her older sister. “And in all sports. Just all my life I’ve looked up to her. She’s a really good athlete.”
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Josh Folck may be reached at jfolck@lehighvalleylive.com.
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