The Lady War Eagles varsity lacrosse team of Marist School matched Westminster School point for point and stick for stick for 50 minutes of regulation and two overtimes during the Class AAAA state semifinal match, May 6. At the end of the second overtime, however, Westminster was the victor 13-12.

Marist climbed back from an early 3-0 deficit on back-to-back goals by senior Catherine Beadles and a third and tying goal by sophomore Sascha Brown on an assist from senior Lindsey Isaf. There were five ties in the first half as the two teams finished the first half knotted up at six apiece.

The game resumed its frenetic pace in the second half, as Westminster scored in the first 26 seconds of play, and 32 seconds later Isaf scored to tie the match 7-7. Neither team wanted the season to end. Back and forth they went until Marist gained a two-point advantage with 9:47 remaining in regulation. At the 4:50 mark Westminster tied the scored at 10, and with 2:35 to go they took a one-point lead. Beadles went down the field to even the score at 11 with only 27.2 seconds showing on the clock, and that is how they would finish the end of regulation.

Each team scored a goal in the first 3:00 overtime. Then with 24.1 seconds remaining in the second overtime, Westminster attacker Taylor Kaplan scored to give her team the go ahead and winning goal.

Beadles, who scored a team high six goals in the match and led the team in scoring this season with 65 goals, said afterwards, “We played a great game, but we just ran out of time. It’s disappointing, but we finished the season strong. We made it to the Elite 8 last year and we accomplished this year’s goal of making the Final 4, so that gives the team something to build on next year.”

Marist finished the season 16-3, but Marist head coach Kelly Crowe is well aware the 2009 season will be tougher as six of her eight graduating seniors are starters. Crowe said, “Losing eight seniors is a huge hit. Many of them have started for me for four years. But they have led the way and set the example of what it takes to be successful and compete. My younger players have hopefully learned from them and know that it takes a ton of hard work, effort and dedication to have a season like we had this year.”