This wasn’t a case of trying to run before you could walk. In its second year of existence, the Johnston girls’ lacrosse team has been running since the start of the season.
This was more running the 100-meter final in the Summer Olympics before you can walk.
For a team that didn’t win one game last season, the Panthers didn’t play like it in 2015. There was no reason to think, tied at 3 with No. 1-seeded Classical in Tuesday’s Division III semifinal, that a trip to Saturday’s championship game at Brown University wasn’t in the cards.
But Classical, an above .500 team in Division II the last four years, showed Johnston it still has some growing left. After a stellar defensive first half, the Panthers couldn’t stop or slow Classical’s McKenzie Finigan and Rachel Turner, as the two led the charge in a seven-goal second-half outburst, ending Johnston’s season with a 10-4 loss.
“We were pretty confident. We went out and gave it our all,” Johnston’s Bella DiRaimo said. “Then we just lost it.”
“They played a hell of a game in the first half,” Johnston coach Jay Areson said. “We have to play two halves, but I’m just so proud of the girls this year from where we were last year.”
Classical’s second-half performance shouldn’t have been much of a surprise based on the past. The Purple outlasted the Panthers 16-15 in the regular season and stopping Turner and Finigan – who combined for eight in the game – wasn’t going to be easy.
In the first half, Johnston found a way. Its defense – led by captain Christina Hardman, Natalie Buccafurri, Casey Howe and
Samantha Hardman – stayed in front of whoever had the ball and beat Classical’s inside cutters to the spot where they hoped to receive a pass.
If someone slipped by and managed a shot, sophomore goalkeeper Jacsmile Cassion – who earned the starting job when she volunteered to play the position as a freshman in the Panthers’ inaugural season – was there to make a save. For the first 15 minutes of the game, Johnston was in control and led 2-1 after goals from Christina Hardman and DiRaimo.
“Throughout the whole season we were working on doubling on our end of the field,” Hardman said. “We were hoping to do it just like we were practicing.”
“The first time we played them, we kind of got crushed at the net,” Areson said. “I knew they were going to dump the ball so the game plan was everyone crashing down.”
Classical took the lead back with goals by Finigan and Turner. This is where most young, inexperienced teams would fold. The Panthers didn’t. Instead, they fought back and with 1:59 left in the half, Amber Dion scored to tie things back up and give Johnston some momentum headed to the break. They weren’t just scrappy underdogs; they were contenders and they knew it.
“I told them at halftime we can make history today,” Areson said. “Looking back at where we started, we’re a second-year program and none of these girls had played before.”
“It was a fresh start,” DiRaimo said. “It was 0-0 and we just wanted to come back out and give it our all.”
Apparently so did Classical, because the second half screamed of a favorite knowing it had to step on the gas before things got too close for comfort. Just 23 seconds into the half, Classical took the lead and held it the rest of the way.
The Purple were jumping up and down with excitement after taking a 6-3 lead after Turner’s ball found twine while Johnston slowly walked back for another faceoff.
“We were hoping after one goal we wouldn’t let in,” Christina Hardman said. “But after the second one, we kind of let in.”
“We could have done better seeing the cuts coming in,” said Cassion, who finished with 23 saves. “We could have done a lot better with that.”
“We got a little down and some of the girls ran out of gas,” Areson said. “The inexperience showed a little.”
Down 9-3, there was a glimmer of hope when Allie Faella scored with 5:35 left, but Classical quickly halted a Panther comeback with solid ball control down the stretch.
With the direction the Panthers are headed – and hopes of funding for a middle school program – Tuesday’s loss may simply end up being the day Johnston girls’ lacrosse realized the difference between being a good team and a great one.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better season,” Christina Hardman said. “Maybe next year they’ll get farther.”
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