Storms disrupt District 1 lacrosse championship games

Yesterday's terrible weather pulled the plug on one important District 1 lacrosse championship and the thunderstorms prevented another game from taking place. Both girls' and boys' PIAA District 1 lacrosse championships will be played today, one picking up where the game left off, and the other game starting from the beginning.

In the District 1 boys' championship, Springfield (Delco) will meet Conestoga at 4 p.m. at Harriton High School in a game that never got started before the bad weather hit last night.

Defending PIAA girls' state champion Radnor will inherit a 4-3 lead with 2 minutes, 37 seconds left in the first half when the Red Raiders start play against Springfield (Delco) in the girls' district title game today at 2 p.m. at West Chester Henderson High School.

Radnor coach Phyllis Kilgore was hoping to wait out yesterday's storm, after the game was suspended twice in the first half because of thunder and lightning.

"It is what it is," Kilgore said. "We both have to deal with it. We'll start where we finished off today, and I did like the way we were playing. But I did want to wait this out. I thought we could have finished the game tonight. It is what it is and we'll have to deal with it. But Springfield's kids have off from school [today], while our kids have to come in for a half-day of school. I've been coaching for over 20 years and never had to deal with anything like this before. You never like stoppages in a game like this."

Radnor (21-1 overall) trailed once, 1-0, but surged back with three unanswered goals from Kelyn Freedman and a pair of goals from Ali Kelly. Junior goalie Annie Woehling was a great wall for Radnor, steering away 10 shots before Springfield's Shannon Burns scored her second goal of the half and the game was called with 2:37 still left in the first half.

Allie Martin's play was also exceptional for Radnor, with two assists and breaking up a possible scoring chance for Springfield (20-1 overall).

On the boys' side, No. 1 seed Springfield was looking to extend its 17-game winning streak against Central League rival Conestoga (19-2 overall).

Springfield has not lost to a team from Pennsylvania this season. The Cougars' lone loss came on April 3 to St. Anne's-Belfield, in Virginia. But Springfield survived a scare its last time out, needing quadruple overtime to beat Garnet Valley, 7-6, in the district semifinals Tuesday night.

Springfield holds a victory over Conestoga, 4-3, in overtime on April 20. It was the fewest goals the Pioneers had scored in a game all season. The Cougars were giving up about four goals a game, thanks in large part to senior goaltender and Penn State-bound Austin Kaut, before allowing a pair of six-goal games in the district quarterfinal and semifinal rounds. They happened to be the most goals Springfield had yielded in a game in more than a month.

As for the Pioneers, they've picked up their offense, averaging 13.8 goals game over their last eight games and are averaging 12.5 goals in the district playoffs.