Big comeback for a thrilling OT victory for Fox Lane

Cora Moore works against a double team from Horace Greeley. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS

Molly Rodriguez came through with some big saves to help the Foxes pull out overtime victory.

By JIM MACLEAN 

Facing your biggest rival on the road in the first game of the year is not an easy way to start the season for a team with a lot of new young faces on the field.

Especially when you fall behind, and especially when you have a freshman in her first varsity game starting in goal against one of the best teams in the section. That was the scenario for the Fox Lane girls’ varsity lacrosse team as the Foxes traveled to Horace Greeley for the season opener with freshman Molly Rodriguez in goal and trailed 3-0 at halftime.

However, the second half was a different story as Rodriguez kept making one big save after another and the Foxes started to fight back, and senior captain Cora Moore scored late in the fourth quarter to even it up at 5-5.

The game was far from over. It would take four overtime periods, both defenses standing tall, before Moore was finally able to finish off the comeback with a goal off an assist from Taylor Webb to give the Foxes a thrilling 6-5 victory.

“Four overtimes, that was super crazy and super tiring, a great pass from Taylor and I knew I had to put the ball in the back of the net,” Moore said of her overtime goal. “Molly was a game-changer in goal and our defense played great the whole game. Halftime we were down three goals, but we said if we could put a goal in that would turn the whole game around. We did that and I was just so proud of our team, a great win and a great comeback. It was incredible, first game of the season to come out and beat our rivals at Greeley, such a great feeling for everyone.”

It didn’t feel so great in the first half as Horace Greeley came out strong and took a 3-0 lead. It could have been more, the Fox Lane defense was busy as the Quakers controlled the action, but Rodriguez came up with several big saves to keep it close.

Rodriguez would finish the game with 13 saves overall, including several under pressure in the four overtime periods to wrap up the victory. Fox Lane coach Jaime Williams credited her and the defense in front of her led by Isabel Valenzuela, Madyson Greene, Olivia Wong and Phoebe Fisher for playing a strong game with a lot of heart. He also credited his captains — Moore, Valenzuela, Michaela Kaltsas and Dylan New — for keeping the young players confident and positive after falling behind.

“Our goalie and our defense, they were all playing great and kept us in the game,” said Fox Lane coach Jaime Williams. “Molly came out confident and she came up huge for us with big saves. As the game went on our defense got stronger. Cora with the game tying and game winning goals, she was quarterbacking the offense and keeping everybody positive. They all stayed positive the whole time. We’re a young team, we had a seventh-grader starting on attack, an eighth-grader starting at midfield, and a ninth grader in goal. Those girls all played great. Our veteran players have been great leaders, great captains that make those girls feel comfortable. Nobody was frantic.”

Then the Foxes got the break they needed as Phoebe Skinner finished off a fast break to cut the lead down to 3-1. Fox Lane grabbed the momentum and Kaltsas was able to score a pair of goals, while New scored a goal and had an assist. That set the stage for Moore to come through with her late game heroics as she tied it up and forced overtime.

Talk about pressure for a freshman goalie in sudden-death overtime, but Rodriguez and the Foxes were up to the challenge forcing one extra period after another before Moore was able to come through and send everybody home.

A big confidence boost for Fox Lane, and the Foxes would carry it over to the next game facing another tall challenge on the road March 28, at Farmingdale on Long Island.

Once again, Fox Lane found itself trailing by three goals at 5-2, but the Foxes rallied back and came home with a 12-9 victory.

This time it was Kaltsas with the big game as she finished with four goals scored to lead the Foxes, while eighth-grade midfielder Julia Sirchia also had a big game with a hat trick scoring three goals. Moore scored two goals and had four assists and seven draw controls.

“Michaela was huge, she was finding her groove and really stepped up for us,” Williams said of Kaltsas. “Julia (Sirchia) scored her first varsity goal. She got the momentum for us, picked up a ground ball and went the full field and scored. It was gutsy for an eighth grader. Cora was big on the draws. We were down again and nobody was frantic, goal-by-goal, we just kept coming back. We could have started the season 0-2 and that would have been tough mentally, so this is great for our team and our confidence level.”