The Chagrin Falls Tigers and Chardon Hilltoppers Girls Lacrosse teams have developed quite an intense rivalry over the past five years.
Game photos click here.
The Chagrin Falls Tigers and Chardon Hilltoppers Girls Lacrosse teams have developed quite an intense rivalry over the past five years.
Meeting six times since 2021, the Hilltoppers and Tigers have split the series 3-3.
Although the 2021 and 2022 matchups resulted in lopsided Tigers victories, the Hilltoppers rebounded to win three straight rivalry games.
Breaking through in 2023, the Hilltoppers defeated the Tigers 13-7 to advance to the OHSAA Regional Title Game.
In 2024, the Tigers’ returned serve with a 8-5 Regional Title victory over the Hilltoppers to advance to the OHSAA Final Four.
In a highly anticipated April 9 rematch at CS Harris Stadium, the Tigers claimed a season opening 7-6 victory over the Hilltoppers.
This extremely intense matchup was a hard fought battle filled with multiple lead changes and ties.
Just like the “Gritty Detroit Tigers” refused to give up during the 2024 MLB baseball season, the Chagrin Falls Tigers Girls Lacrosse Team demonstrated this same characteristic in their season opener.
With emotions running high and pressure mounting, the “Gritty Tigers” demonstrated mental toughness and perseverance as they claimed a 7-6 victory over the Hilltoppers.
Afterwards, Chagrin Falls Head Coach KC White, who has a masters degree in applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and is a mental toughness coach, said that she was proud of how her players stayed focused and did not give up even as the Hilltoppers were gaining momentum.
“Grit and perseverance as you know are two of my favorite words,” Coach White said. “I was really proud of the team, and how we stayed in the game even when things weren’t exactly going our way. We didn’t give up on ourselves, we didn’t give up on each other, and we just stayed in the moment until that final whistle blew.”
Post-game, Tigers seniors Emma Thatcher and Mary-Claire Holdren provided insight on how their grit and mental toughness foiled the Hilltoppers comeback attempt.
Thatcher said that the Tigers were very excited after taking an early 3-0 lead.
Although the Hilltoppers came back quickly, Thatcher noted the importance of her team’s ability to handle adversity by staying focused on the process of what they could control.
In particular, the Tigers utilized positive communication and positive self-talk to keep their cohesion high.
“During the game we made sure to huddle up and build each other up, saying ‘we got this, we got this’,” Thatcher said. “When they came back, (we said) ‘time to get going’, ‘time to play defense’, ‘we got this’.”
Holdren noted that her team played well by not thinking about the past and staying focused on the present.
“I think just keeping our head up really helped us persevere through this game,” said Holdren. “I think it’s mainly just not getting in our heads and just not dwelling on the past and focusing on making that next pass.”
Holdren said that the team trains mentally in practice to prepare for these challenging situations.
The need for the Tigers to utilize these important mental skills arose early against the Hilltoppers.
After the Tigers got off to a great 3-0 start in which Thatcher, Claire Hoelzel, and Holdren all found the back of the net, the Hilltoppers quickly responded.
The Hilltoppers, also displaying a high level of grit and mental toughness, evened the score at 3-3 with goals by Morgan Slack, Kaelyn Cardina and Elle Deszczykiewicz.
Holdren then got her second goal of the game to give the Tigers a 4-3 lead heading into halftime.
In a back and forth tension filled second half it was necessary for both teams to demonstrate grit and perseverance as the Hilltoppers evened the score on three occasions and the Tigers took the lead three times.
The Hilltoppers outscored the Tigers 2-1 in the third quarter to even the contest at 5-5.
Landing two goals in the third quarter for the Hilltoppers on excellent assists from senior Lauren Jackson was senior Mercyhurst University commit, Payton Platz.
Scoring the Tigers third quarter goal was Thatcher.
In the final quarter, the Tigers took the lead 6-5, on a goal by freshman Ella Catney with 7:32 left in the game.
The Hilltoppers then tied the game at 6-6 with 5:49 left on Elle Deszczykiewicz’s second goal of the contest.
The game-winning goal was scored by the Tigers’ Thatcher, her third of the game, with 5:18 to go.
Coach White said that the coaching staff knew that if Thatcher could create a small amount of space from her defender she could score because of her excellent shooting ability.
“It was a big time goal for Emma that put us ahead,” said Coach White.
In discussing Thatcher’s hat trick, Coach White noted Thatcher’s excellent scoring range.
“She’s just a really dynamic shooter,” Coach White said. “She scored a couple that were further up on the eight and I just love that versatility of her game. She also scored around the crease.”
With the grit and mental toughness displayed early in the season by both the Tigers and the Hilltoppers, it would not be a surprise to see these same two teams square off for the 2025 Regional Title at the end of May.
