RallyNorth.net

Star Hartford powers Georgetown past Port

Saturday, April, 19 By John Shimer
Staff writer

In the first six games of the girls lacrosse season, one clear-cut theme has unfolded in the River Rival region | royalty reigns supreme. The Georgetown Royals to be specific.

Although talk of a coronation might be premature, the Royals' leading lady and top scorer, Shannon Hartford, certainly looks to be one of the top Cape Ann League talents, amassing 46 points thus far after notching another seven points (5 goals, 2 assists) in yesterday's 10-7 win over Newburyport.

What makes Hartford so tough is what also makes the Royals so potent. Her running mate, Kelly Burke, has been nearly as dangerous, scoring 19 points in three games, sharing the offensive work load with Hartford.

"There's assists in there, too, which makes me proud because she'll draw the double team then dump it off to the open teammates, and look for the point no matter who it comes from," said Hartford's mother and coach, Heather Hartford. "We have come up against some tough competition, and Shannon is still penetrating defenses, getting our team into our motion offense, which gets everyone involved. She's really about the team."

With Burke sidelined for a third straight game while nursing an ankle injury, Hartford helped the Royals jump out to an early 7-0 lead in the first half. By the half, though, the Clippers made a game of it, scoring four straight goals to cut the deficit to 7-4.

Newburyport continued to cut into the lead after halftime, getting as close as a two-goal deficit (8-6). Hartford then reignited the Georgetown offense, going off on two brilliant long runs, deking and ducking under multiple defenders each time to push the lead back up to a four-goal margin (10-6) before Newburyport scored the final goal.

"It was good to get back on track after losing the last two games," coach Hartford said. "We started very well, then went down slack for a bit, but then pulled it back together.

"I have a lot of respect for Newburyport, though. What stuck out to me was their character. We were up 7-0 and they came right back. In particular, their goalie had some great saves."

Helping to somewhat neutralize the Royals attack was Newburyport freshman goalie Lilly Galverano, who made 12 saves to keep the Clippers close.

"(Galverano) a freshman, it's her first time playing lacrosse. Goalie is a pretty tough position to start with, and she's playing great," said Newburyport coach Catherine Batchelder. "She doesn't get enough attention, but she's working really hard and getting better every day."

Although it's been a rough season at times for the Newburyport, the team has showed steady improvement of late.

"We're really getting better every week. That's pretty much our team goal right now, to get better every day," Batchelder said. "We knew that they had a really potent attack and unfortunately we were flat in the first 10 minutes to start or it could've been a different outcome. But, after we called a timeout we brought it within two goals pretty quickly, and I'm just really proud of the way they showed courage and determination to come back."

Laura Fallon netted a hat tick for Newburyport and Emily Vartabedian scored two goals. Molly Scully and Avery Cullinan each scored once for the Clippers.

For Georgetown, Katherine Falzareno added a goal to go with an assist. Alyssa Rosenthal, Kristen Pingree, Meghan Makiver and Michelle Reilly notched a goal apiece.