Cherokee girls' lacrosse trips Seneca, 10-8
Gab Bodine led all scorers with four goals and an assist, including a hat trick in the second half.
Her 6-foot-1 older brother, Jordan, was one of the most prolific goal scorers in Cherokee boys' lacrosse history.
And Gabby Krug insists that, when they would practice in their backyard, Jordan wasn't taking it easy on her.
"We would have bets on how many goals he would get and how many saves I would make," said Gabby Krug, now a junior goalie on the Chiefs girls' team. "We have a lacrosse net in the backyard, and he would rip shots on me all the time."
Asked to compare Jordan - who now plays at Cabrini - with what she currently sees from opponents, Krug shrugged, smiled, and delivered an obvious but polite understatement: "Well," she said, "they're a little slower."
Her backyard training might explain Krug's uncommon reaction time. It was on full display Saturday morning as Cherokee beat rival Seneca, 10-8, on its home turf.
Krug said saving free position shots are her speciality, and she stopped six of them in the second half, adding to her total of 13 saves.
Free position shots, taken from eight yards out, are heavily weighted in the shooter's favor. The shots come fast and with nothing between the shooter and the goalie. But it's nothing compared with, say, a side-arm shot from a men's college player.
"I try to bait [the shooter] to go a certain way," Krug said. "I lean a certain way. I try to stay patient and keep my eye on the ball. And today, it really worked out."
The win was a bounce-back for Cherokee (5-1) after its first loss of the season to Shawnee on Thursday.
Gab Bodine led all scorers with four goals and an assist, including a hat trick in the second half.
"This was definitely a big morale booster for us," Bodine said.
Bodine's four goals gave her 29 through the first six games of the season. She was face-guarded and double-teamed the entire game - as she has been all year - but seemed to get more comfortable as play went on.
"I tried to read the defense and figure out what they're going to do and what they're not going to do," Bodine said. "As the game goes on, you start to figure it out."
Seneca dropped to 3-2, but coach Morgan Cruthers was pleased with her team's effort.
The Golden Eagles were within one of Cherokee until Gabriella Ciotti's goal with eight seconds left sent Cherokee into halftime with a 6-4 lead.
The Chiefs scored the first two goals of the second half to build enough cushion to hold of a feisty Seneca.
The Golden Eagles held an advantage in possession in the second half, and it was largely because of the heroics of Krug that they couldn't complete the comeback.
"We really did give 100 percent today. We just didn't come out with the win," Cruthers said. "We just need to work on the small things that will help us in big games like this."
Seneca 4 4 - 8
Cherokee 6 4 - 10
Goals: S-Erin Kerstetter 2, Cassidy Spilis 2, Lindy Webb 3, Jenna Birnbohm-Kaminski. C-Gabriella Ciotti 2, Lilly Fox, Gab Bodine 4, Kylie Evens, Samantha Patrizi, Jillian Westerby. Saves: S-Christa Hines 5; C-Gabby Krug 13.