Girls lacrosse wins third title
It seems as if the Parkland girls lacrosse team is at the top of the conference each and every year. And that didn't change in 2015.
The Trojans dominated league play all season, and then capped it off with a 14-10 win in the inaugural East Penn Conference final last Monday night at Nazareth Area High School's Andrew Leh stadium.
It was the third straight league title for Parkland (18-2), who has been unbeaten in the league for over three seasons. Seniors, and EPC All-Stars Sophie Castillo and Mackenzie Galli combined for seven goals to help bring it home.
"It's very satisfying because in the past nobody really thought that much of Parkland girls lacrosse," said Galli. "Now, we have a legacy."
It was also the third time this year the teams have met, and the third win for the Trojans.
It didn't take long for the Trojans to show their dominance. They raced out to a 5-1 advantaged paced by two goals apiece from Cathleen Gaffney and Galli.
Gaffney opened up the scoring just a little over a minute in. After Destanee Watkins tied it up, the Trojans answered with four goals in 3:42 to make it 5-1.
Parkland had an 8-3 edge on draws in the first half, and with that, took a 7-3 lead into intermission after scores from Ana Emrick and Castillo.
The gap widened in the second half as the Trojans tallied four unanswered goals through the opening 11 minutes. Parkland goalie Brie Barraco came up large during that span, snuffing out several scoring chances halting any Emmaus momentum.
"Brie played awesome," head coach Dawn Cipolla said. "To be honest with you, I think Brie has played awesome every game we've had, and she's kept us in a lot of games. I don't think a lot of people realize how well she's played."
Destanee Watkins, who was recently named an EPC First Team All-Star, brought Emmaus (11-9) to within 11-5 with back-to-back goals, but Parkland's Jenny Zawada scored on a pass from Sarah Staggard to break up the rally.
Watkins finished the night with five goals and an assist for Emmaus, who scored three goals in the final 33.7 seconds to account for the final margin.
Castillo was named the league's MVP for the second straight year. Parkland will be the number one seed in the District 11 tournament, and will play the winner of Emmaus and Moravian Academy next week.