Cardinal Gibbons girls’ lacrosse crushes Chapel Hill

Cardinal Gibbons girls’ lacrosse coach Patricia Alexander knew she was going to have to work in some new players this year, replacing nearly half the starters from a team that lost in the state championship game in a double-overtime thriller last season.

So far, so good, for Alexander as her Crusaders remained undefeated after a 19-5 win over Chapel Hill Friday night.

Chapel Hill, coached by Dan Segal, stayed with the powerful a Gibbons (6-0) squad early, but a 2-2 game after five minutes got away from the Tigers (4-2) as the Crusaders then went on a 9-0 run to take an 11-2 halftime lead.

By the end of the game, nine Crusaders had scored, including two goals and four assists from Erica Skowron, a senior attacker headed to play at American University next year.

“I feel good about our team, we’re all working together,” Skowron said. “We got off to a slow start in this game, but then we got our momentum going.”

Segal was impressed with Gibbons.

“They’re really good, so athletic and so fast. We played hard and played tough,” he said. “Sometimes we would play good defense for two minutes, keep them from getting a shot, and then make one mistake and they would score. They just executed so well. We can learn some things from this game.”

Three to know

Paige Haskins, Chapel Hill: The senior William and Mary recruit scored three of the Tigers’ goals and had one assist.

“Paige is one of the best players around,” Segal said. “She plays well all over the field and is our go-to player, our leader.”

Liz Wilson, Cardinal Gibbons: The sophomore has already committed to play at Richmond and stung the Tigers with six goals. “She’s so quick and with an ability to change speeds,” Alexander said.

Gabby Young, Cardinal Gibbons: Young (six saves), a sophomore, moved into the lineup during the playoffs last year and has continued to get better.

“Gabby stepped up in the playoffs last when our goalie got injured and has stepped her game more this year,” Alexander said.

What worked

“Everyone on our offense is a threat,” Skowron said.

Alexander agreed, saying about his Gibbons team, “We’ve got great depth with our offense and middles. The depth there is a strength on our team. We can get points from a lot of girls.”

While Wilson scored six goals, Skowron had her two goals to go with four assists and senior Morgan Winstead added three goals and two assists against the Tigers.

Sydney Anderson, a senior who will play at Notre Dame next year, was a steadying influence on defense and leader by her play on the field.

They said it

“We are replacing some of our starters from last year,” Alexander said. “We’re getting the returning players to be more dynamic and at the same time we are evolving as a team.”

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 12:45 AM with the headline "Cardinal Gibbons girls’ lacrosse crushes Chapel Hill."