Paige Haskins, Chapel Hill rally by East Chapel Hill girls lacrosse
Not far removed from conceding a six-goal run and going a man down for two minutes, N&O No. 2 Chapel Hill girls lacrosse’s prospects of escaping rival No. 7 East Chapel Hill with a victory were looking grim.
“We were in a lot of trouble,” Chapel Hill coach Dan Segal said. “It looked so hopeless for so long.”
“I thought that was it,” senior Paige Haskins added.
What happened instead was a rally that only the most of bitter of rivalries can bring out of players. After Haskins received a penalty that rendered the Tigers a man down for two minutes with 2:40 to go, she took that time on the sideline to amp herself up for her return to the game.
Coming in with 40 seconds left, Haskins scored twice – with 25 and 5 seconds to go, respectively – to clinch a 14-13 road win.
“When I had 10 seconds left in my penalty I got this feeling, ‘Maybe we can get this. I got it,’” Haskins said. “The thought of losing to East wasn’t an option. If it’s a tied game like that, I trust everyone on the field to take that shot but I wanted to take it.”
Preceding Haskins’ return to the field, the Tigers (10-3, 6-2) had to create a turnover as the Wildcats (7-7, 5-3) spread out the offense, intent on running the possession to the final horn.
That’s when Chapel Hill’s Reagan Roeber rose to the occasion, swooping in to create a crucial turnover and more importantly, initiate the first of the Tigers’ final two attacks.
“We knew we had to double the ball, which is hard enough to do when you’re even and to do it shorthanded is crazy because you’re leaving three people open,” Segal said. “I told the kids to work hard, to give everything they had, there was no time to give anything less than 100%. It was so rewarding to see the hard work pay off.”
Haskins finished with five goals, which included the first and final two of the game and Anne Crabill (two), Lundy Fine (two), Julia Ziaee, Charlotte Macdonald, Allie Kempf, Jane McMurry and Shannon Wulff also made the score sheet.
Wulff and Kempf scored the goals the brought the Tigers within one of the Wildcats with 6:30 and 5:45 to go.
East didn’t get the result they wanted on senior night, but left feeling confident in their ability to put together a run and grow.
“We showed up today with a different kind of togetherness than we’ve had all season. We really played with each other and communicated well,” East coach Emily Sternbach said. “It was a different team and it’s going to be a different team moving forward.”
Senior Lena Johnson shined on her senior night, scoring six goals and notching an assist on her. Johnson was involved in half the goals during the Wildcats’ 6-0 run.
“She always brings a lot of leadership and takes charge of the situation,” Sternbach said. “She’s never afraid to go to the goal.”
East also had goals from Reily Reed (three), Flynn Reed, Maya Levin, Olivia Jenkins and Cassidy Fourtney. Jordan Metzbower was poised in between the pipes, notching ten saves.
This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 10:26 PM with the headline "Paige Haskins, Chapel Hill rally by East Chapel Hill girls lacrosse."