AUBURN — Forwards Emma Roy and Bella Pelletier seemed to take turns scoring goals in St. Dominic’s girls lacrosse matchup with Edward Little on Friday.
Led by Roy’s seven goals and Pelletier’s five, the Saints earned a 16-9 road win over the Red Eddies at Walton Field.
“They work together well as a team,” St. Dom’s coach Sue Nee said. “They’ve been playing together for a while, so it’s been really smooth.”
The Red Eddies netted the first two goals of the game, then Roy scored her first two, Pelletier tallied her first and Roy put in her third off a penalty to give St. Dom’s a 4-2 lead. The Saints’ four goals were scored in a 4-minute, 38-second span.
Jessie Zimmerman added another goal with 13:34 left in the first half to put St. Dom’s up 5-2.
Edward Little answered back quickly with a goal by Izzy Hayes, her second of the game, to cut the deficit to 5-3 with 11:51 remaining in the half.
Hayes finished with seven goals, helping the Red Eddies stay within striking distance of the Saints for much of the game.
“We all call Izzy the ‘X-Factor,’” Edward Little coach Shaun McKinnon said. “She sets the tone on offense for us, and when she controls the draw, more likely than not, she’s going to assist or score a goal. She’s a freshman and is playing through a significant leg injury (calf strain). She has what it takes and has heart, and I am so proud of her. She’s playing pretty hurt, but when she’s on, she can score at will.”
After Pelletier scored less than a minute later to put St. Dom’s up 6-3, then Roy added another goal on a long run up the middle of the field. The ball was knocked out of the pocket of her stick twice, but she regained it both times and fired a shot from in front of net for her fourth goal of the game.
“Honestly, the fast rushes inside caught them off guard,” Roy said. “We are really fast, and I think they weren’t expecting it at some points because we played slow then quickly went up with a momentum change. We threw a couple different things at them.”
Edward Little’s Caroline Audette scored her second of two goals on a nice finish in front of the net with 4:15 left in the half to cut the deficit to 8-6.
Pelletier scored with 1:09 to play, sending the Saints into halftime with a 9-6 advantage.
Hayes scored 19 seconds into the second half to pull the Red Eddies within two goals.
“We were so pumped about that, coming out of half and cutting it to two,” McKinnon said. “As you know, no lead is safe at any time in the game of lacrosse. You can rifle off six or seven goals in a six-minute clip. I think with five minutes to go I called that timeout and we were down four (12-8), and I said, ‘This game is winnable.’ They showed a lot of heart but we were just a step behind all day. That’s how it is sometimes.”
St. Dom’s doesn’t have enough players to make substitutions, so every player plays the entire game. Nee said it hasn’t been a problem for the Saints, and that they have played as well in the second halves of games as they have the first halves.
Friday was no different. Following Edward Little’s quick second-half goal, the Saints outscored the Red Eddies 7-2.
“The girls always seem ready to go after the half without any sets,” Nee said. “They talk to each other, they don’t have subs, but they work together. They get the timeouts to get breathers, and I have wonderful captains helping the players.”
“I think (not having substitutes) means everyone just has to pick each other up and work harder,” Roy added. “I think we’ve worked hard for it, and I think the extra running (in practices) makes us prepared for the game. I think it’s just the preparation, because any situation can be good if you prepare for it.”
McKinnon said St. Dom’s wore down Edward Little, which was coming off a 15-4 loss to Brunswick, but he was proud of the fight the Red Eddies showed.
“I was just happy that they showed a lot of heart out there,” McKinnon said. “We have a lot of girls that are banged up from our late game with Brunswick last night. We were down a starter on defense, Nora (Condit), but they competed the entire game. We never gave up, and that’s the heart we are looking for.
“I was just praising them for a job well-done. There were a lot of moral victories in that game, and St. Dom’s is just very aggressive and they have solid players. I was just proud that (we) were showing tons of heart.”
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