Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard

Stiles spurs Shawnee to victory

Less than a minute into the game, Becky Stiles said she saw an opening and went for it.

Shawnee's Alexis Newman has her shot blocked by Clearview goalie Rachel Hall. (Elizabeth Robertson/Staff Photographer)
Shawnee's Alexis Newman has her shot blocked by Clearview goalie Rachel Hall. (Elizabeth Robertson/Staff Photographer)Read more

Less than a minute into the game, Becky Stiles said she saw an opening and went for it.

The Shawnee girls' lacrosse attack weaved around a defender and seemed to slingshot toward the net, finishing the play by scoring a tough goal on a one-on-one look with the Clearview goalie.

The score set the early tone that the Renegades have strived for but lacked at times this season.

Shawnee, the No. 2 team in The Inquirer's Top 10, went on to build a six-goal halftime lead and cruise to a 12-7 victory over No. 3 Clearview on Wednesday at Shawnee.

The win could go a long way in ensuring home-field advantage for Shawnee in the postseason.

"Coming out strong was a key today," said Stiles, a senior set to play field hockey at Michigan State. "We knew that Clearview was a great team, so I think we did a good job of gaining momentum in the first half."

Stiles also gave her team a 2-0 lead on a free position goal with 20 minutes, 48 seconds left in the first half.

The senior, along with Marina Mestres, led Shawnee (6-3) with three goals.

"I was really proud of the team today," Shawnee coach Janae Zechman said. "The first thing I said to them at halftime was that this was one of the first times this season that we really played a full first half and really played hard from start to finish."

Senior Jessica Loizeaux paced Clearview (7-1) with three goals, and Chelsea Derolf added two.

The Pioneers entered the game as one of the hottest teams in South Jersey. But not until the second half did they show why.

After Mestres opened the scoring in the second half, putting Shawnee up by 9-2, Clearview netted three consecutive goals.

"They played better than us today," Clearview coach Megan Conklin said. "In the second half, we started to win more draw balls. But we couldn't get possession of the ball in the first half."

With Shawnee controlling the ball for almost the entire first half, Clearview goalie Rachel Hall did an admirable job of keeping her team in the game.

Hall finished with 12 saves. Shawnee goalie Alex Zaugra countered with seven.

Hall "played awesome today," Conklin said. "Today was probably one of the best performances that she's had all season."

The win likely guarantees Shawnee the No. 2 seed in a South Jersey Group 3 tournament shaping up once again to be among the toughest in the state.

"This was a big win," Zechman said. "We didn't beat Moorestown or Ridgewood, so we needed to win today."

Note. Wednesday was "Play for the Cure" day at Shawnee. The Renegades wore pink pinnies and Clearview wore black pinnies in honor of the event that raised money for the Susan G. Komen foundation, which is dedicated to finding a cure for breast cancer. The teams combined to raise more than $1,200.

Clearview   2 5 – 7

Shawnee   8 4 – 12

Goals: C-Jessica Loizeaux 3, Chelsea Derolf 2, Kim Tumolo, Lauren Young; S-Marina Mestres 3, Becky Stiles 3, Alexis Newman 2, Kristen Kocher 2, Nicole Troost, Karlee Dean.

Saves: C-Rachel Hall 12; S-Alex Zaugra 7.