What an incredible season for the Chardon Hilltoppers girls lacrosse team.
Match photos click here.
What an incredible season for the Chardon Hilltoppers girls lacrosse team.
For the first time in school history, the girls made the OHSAA regional title game.
On May 25, the Hilltoppers traveled to Shaker Heights to face the Hathaway Brown Blazers.
The Blazers played a very meticulous offensive game that proved to be extremely difficult to defend. Often they slowed the game to a standstill to set up an offensive formation in order to run set plays — plays that often involved a cutter running through the middle of the defense looking for a pass in order to get as close as possible to the goalie, then take an open shot.
And this strategy proved extremely effective throughout the game, as Hathaway Brown defeated the Hilltoppers,15-4.
“(Hathaway Brown) just does a nice job of using each other to try to confuse the defense,” Chardon Head Coach Alison Platz said. “They work really well together. So they just had our defenders frazzled, and they had a hard time recovering in the first half.
“This is going to be a good learning experience for the girls who are coming back to understand what we now need to do to be at the level we want to be at in order to progress to the state semifinals.”
Coach Platz also talked about this year’s senior class and their great accomplishments in the program.
“They have really taught the underclassmen accountability, which is huge,” she said. “They’re going to leave that legacy. They have done a nice job of getting us up a level each year in teaching the underclassmen what needs to be done in order to keep the program where it is or rise above.”
During her postgame interview, senior Stella Parrish recounted her own experiences.
“I think we came into the season freshman year ready to play, and then Covid hit and we were all bummed,” Parrish said. “I remember me and Grace face-timing Coach Ally cause we were really sad.
“Then sophomore year, we were new and the program was new. We had Kenzie, so obviously we had a really good player, and then we made it to the second round and then lost.
“Junior year we made it even further, we made it to the third round and then lost.
“Then senior year, here we are today. I know it is a tough loss, but I think we all fought until the very end. I don’t think we’ve worked harder than we did this season, day in and day out. We would leave practice late, and we would get there early. We had senior held practices, practiced in the snow, and we practiced in the rain.
“It’s family, that’s all I can say.”
