After Slow Start, John Jay Overpowers Lakeland/Panas

Please see tip, pledge and subscribe buttons or my venmo is : @Rich-Monetti

On Tuesday May 6, John Jay traveled to Walter Panas and faced the 3-7 Lakeland/Panas Rebels. So only holding a 4-3 halftime lead was a little surprising. “We were not feeling great,” said Dillon Hall, and intermission meant some reengagement.

“We got a good hype up speech,” she added. “The energy came up,” and nine straight goals led to a 13-5 victory.

The game started business as usual, though. Jojo Degl sent the face to her sister Finja, she passed off to Micayla DeVeau, and the 8th grader gave the visitors a 1-0 lead.

Only 25 seconds elapsing, the Wolves were pretty quick put the offense on rewind. After exchanging possessions, Finja Degl took the ball at the 15 and persevered through the defense. Veronica Lynch in goal did not oblige, though, and with the rush denied, the John Jay day to day was disrupted.

Even more so when the Lakeland/Panas defense forced a turnover, and the Rebels yelled in the other direction. Maddie DiMirco received a centering pass and fired past Molly Gallagher to tie the game.

At 6:40, the Degl’s were not impressed. Jojo sent the draw to Finja, and little sister’s rush led to a loose ball in front of Lynch. On alert, Coco Inglis got the scoop and put it past at 6:29.

2-1, Jojo Degl got on the express again. Taking the draw herself, the senior was positioned on the right. But the shot went high, and Lynch took the round by winning the race for possession.

They weren’t done with each other either. The ball jarred loose by the Jay defense, Degl picked up the loose ball and headed for the house. Coast to coast, she passed to her sister, and the familiar face denied the family with 2:40 left in the first.

The score remaining, the second period got even less comfortable. Of course, the period began with Lynch wielding her weapons. She stopped Jordan Kauftheil and Jojo Degl at point blank, and on Coco Inglis’ swing around into the clear, Lynch got the deflection and snared the ball above.

Back the other way, Anna Lemma received at the 30 and spotted a lane ahead. The attacker took it and beat Gallagher low at 8:37.

Degl did not take kindly to the deadlock, and on the draw, she took matters into her own hands. Running under the loft, she was fueled to continue going solo. The ball eventually came back to her on the left, and from the 20, there was no stopping the determined middie. Degl went over head, and John Jay had the lead for good.

7:35 left, the goalies were next, and Lynch was up first. On the free shot, Lynch got low on Kauftheil’s hopper, and the mastery didn’t go unnoticed on the other end. “Good goalie play motivates me to be better for my team,” said Gallagher.

And she got the chance on the changeover. On Emma Stewart’s circumvention out front, Gallagher deflected the ball up, and her catcher went above all the other sticks to secure possession.

Still, Lynch was getting a lot more company from John Jay. She stopped Finja Degl on a coast to coast rush and frustrated Amelia Inglis with a kick save in the crease.

Unfortunately for the Panas goalie, her team succumbed to the swarming transition defense. Jay forced the ball free on the sideline, and the fourth Wolf goal on the day was a first. Dylan Kauftheil received from behind the goal, and the freshman located the bullseye. “I was aiming for where the goalie wasn’t, and I just ripped it there,” she clarified.

Admittedly, “a lot” of goals behind her sister, there was nothing but pride from the top of the family score sheet. “I’ve really been waiting for her to get it,” said Jordan, “It’s all good.”

Lynch didn’t retreat, though. She stopped Jojo Degl on the free shot, and the Lakeland/Panas offense took the cue. From behind, Stewart put the ball on Brooke Pizzarello’s stick, and the one goal difference had Coach Jess McDonough issuing the halftime reset. “Running hard, finishing every play and picking up their hustle - we talked about all the little things that we value as a team,” she revealed.

The Wolves didn’t wait long to apply the curriculum either. Jojo Degl sent the ball to the sideline on the draw, and Finja Degl won the 50-50. Moments later, Jordan Kauftheil dropped the ball into Jane Brennan on the right, and the lead was two.

Hustle played a part in the next point too. Jordan Kauftheil out ran Panas for the draw, and on an errant pass, Coco Inglis kept possession by winning the race to the corner. From there, Jojo Degl’s one woman resolve put McDonough’s other directive to work. “We talked about shot placement and making sure we’re taking an extra second with a hitch or fake,” said the coach.

6-3 now, Degl went one on one for another draw win, but Lynch won this round on the Wolf’s rush. Even so, Panas couldn’t get the ball up the field, and Jordan Kauftheil took care of business next. At the 15, she twisted, juked and danced until a lane opened to Lynch, and the senior made easy work for a 7-3 lead.

In at 9:11, Lynch put another chapter in her save book, but the home team couldn’t get the ball up the field again. So Jojo made Panas pay. She willed her way through two defenders, shot down and gave Jay a 8-3 lead.

A minute later, her sister did a similar number on a solo rush, and after four more goals entered, Jordan Kauftheil put a bow on the second half rebound. “It’s been a long season. We’re getting down to the end, and we just had to shake off some of the rust,” she concluded.