By: Mandy Crescenzo
The Lady Jags pulled a massive upset against number two seeded Owen J. Roberts in a 6-5 win to punch their ticket to the state tournament. Garnet Valley goalie Mackenzie Butler sealed the deal for the win in the quarterfinal round of the district tournament when she saved OJR’s Gabbi Koury’s eight-meter penalty shot with only 15 seconds remaining in the game. The Jags, who were already 12-6 and were ranked 7th in the PIAA 3A Bracket, already faced OJR in the regular season and lost 7-3, making it their biggest season loss.
The Garnet Valley Lady Jags put on a defensive clinic as they only let the OJR Wildcats put up five points on the board when they averaged 17-18 points in the regular season. Goalie Mackenzie Butler had an outstanding seven saves, and defenders Erin Barnes, Bridget Mccann, and Mia Zebley had a total of five caused turnovers combined, including Barnes’ game-winning check on Koury’s eight-meter shot. Ava Kane’s hat trick led the Jag’s stellar offense, and behind her was Kingsborough’s two goals and Shoemakers one goal that contributed to their 6-5 victory.
Earlier on Thursday, The Jags faced The Great Valley Patriots and had an alarming win as their offense put up 18 points, and their defense only allowed the Patriots to score three points. Jessica Bellis, Sydney Erdman, and Mia Zebley combined had a total of nine caused turnovers, while goalie Mackenzie Butler had four saves. Mia Raucci and Kate Stankavage tallied three goals each, while Ava Kane scored four goals and Sophie Kingsborough put up five goals to lead the Jags to a vast offensive victory.
Like the 2021 season, the Jags are rolling right through districts and will hopefully end up back at the district championship game. As for states, the Jags hope to make up for their 8-6 loss to Manheim Township that occurred in the first round of the 2021 PIAA state tournament.
They face Springfield-Delco in the district semifinals at the MOE on Tuesday at 5:30 pm. Springfield advanced to the district semifinal round after Jaclyn Guille scored the game-winning goal to take down Methacton in a 13-12 win in the district quarterfinal round on Saturday. The Jags faced Springfield-Delco in the beginning of the season and won 13-9 in a close, hard-fought match, and fingers are crossed that they will bring that toughness and repeat that hard-fought victory in their rematch come Tuesday.
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