Saturday afternoon, the Panthers hosted the Lovett Lions. The Lady Panthers took the lead in the second quarter, but struggled to defend in the third quarter. Despite the struggle, Starr’s Mill held on to defeat Lovett, 10-8.
Senior Sunny McQuade scored three times, junior Sarah Marshburn scored four times. Junior Sadie Gemmer, sophomore Anna McFaddin, and junior Abby Turnier each scored once.
“When we go on offense, we just need to settle the ball a little bit,” Marshburn said. “Get a good, nice shot instead of being very panicked.”
Within the first minute, Lovett took a 1-0 lead. A few seconds later McQuade evened the score. Marshburn and Turnier scored later in the quarter to give Starr’s Mill a 3-1 lead.
The Lady Panther offense took control of the second quarter, scoring five goals while Lovett only managed two. McFaddin scored within the first 15 seconds of the second quarter with an assist from Turnier. McQuade and Marshburn each scored twice. Starr’s Mill led 8-3 at halftime.
“We really need to work on playing our best during the third quarter. The third quarter has really been a challenge for us this year,” head coach Tony Kluemper said. “A lot of times we have a pretty good half time lead and then we kind of let off the pedal, let off the gas a little bit and we need to work on that and play a complete game.”
The Starr’s Mill defense slowed in the third quarter, allowing Lovett to score four times. Gemmer and Marshburn each scored once for the Panthers. The Lion narrowed the Starr’s Mill lead to 10-7 going into the final quarter.
“On defense we’ve got so much better at communicating with each other,” Marshburn said.
Defensively, the Lady Panthers held Lovett to only a single goal in the final quarter. With the 10-8 win, Starr’s Mill advanced to the AAAA quarterfinals.
Varsity girls lacrosse hosts Holy Innocents tonight at 6:30 p.m.