Rutland laxers steamroll Rebels to get to title game
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By Chuck Clarino Staff Writer - Published: June 10, 2009
It was a long and excruciating year of waiting but the frustration of coming oh-so-close last year and perhaps not living up to their promise evaporated in a rain of goals on a cold and blustery Tuesday afternoon at Alumni Field. The Rutland Raiders can finally celebrate their first appearance in a girls Division I lacrosse championship.
Ten different Raiders scored goals and an emotionally-charged defense was in shut-down mode to lead the top-seeded Raiders to a resounding 18-6 semifinal victory over No. 5 South Burlington and punch their ticket to the title game.
The win is the seventh straight for the Raiders, who suffered their only loss to defending Division II champ Burr and Burton on May 4. The 17-1 Raiders will meet No. 3 Mount Anthony, a team they defeated twice this season, in the championship game, with the date and time to be determined.
South Burlington ended its season at 10-7.
"We were prepared, we came ready and everyone worked hard," said Rutland attack Kayla DelBianco, who had a fabulous game with two goals and six assists.
"We all just wanted it so bad," said DelBianco, one of 13 Raider seniors. "We knew that we were moving up a level in the playoffs and the whole team took it upon itself to step up our game a level."
From the opening draw you could sense this was Rutland's game.
The Raiders were sky-high, cheering every ground ball, every defensive stop and roaring for every goal.
Kayla Tobin got the scoring going 1:22 into play when she scooped a ground ball in front of the Rebel goal and beat sophomore goalie Ashley McDonald.
Two minutes later, Marisa Kiefaber tallied from Tobin to give the Raiders the early momentum.
With Ashley Boucher serving as the Rutland playmaker and the Raider offense cutting and passing nicely, it presented a difficult puzzle for the Rebels to solve.
Rutland's defense would not give South Burlington much in the way of transition, while it locked everything down close to goal.
But it was clear early on that Rutland's plan was to shoot and shoot some more.
Rutland has tremendous depth and is blessed with speed throughout the lineup so Raider coach Jane O'Neill was able to keep fresh legs in and not wear down any of her key players.
"Our plan was to take shots and, if the shots didn't go in, that was all right because it would get them thinking and wear them down," said O'Neill, who said that the team has been working on extra shooting drills in practice. "We could just hammer away at them so they would get tired and they got tired. We have a big squad so we can sub, sub, sub."
Assistant coach Steve Steigerwald agreed.
"We have so many kids that not everyone can have a big game," he said. "But they are all ready to have one."
The constant Raider pressure bore fruit midway through the first half.
Just after South Burlington's Crystal King scored at 14:05 to narrow the Rutland lead to 4-2, the Raiders scored six straight goals in less than 10 minutes.
The goals not only lit up the scoreboard and prompted frenzied screams from the Raider bench, it served to beat down and dishearten the Rebels.
"Rutland has speed and they have an older team this year, while we have a younger team," said assistant Rebel coach Angie Nasveschuk, who was in charge because head coach Angie Soucy just gave birth last Friday. "We had a great quarterfinal game but we didn't come out with that same confidence today. The girls just didn't seem to have the same spark."
Even though the Rebels came back to score the final two goals of the half, Rutland was not to be stopped.
Hanna Wright, who led the Raiders with five goals and an assist, scored the first goal of the second half and Melissa Gfeller scored the second so Rutland was off and flying for the second half.
There were abundant yellow cards issued as the referees called it tight but the game was fast paced and exciting, especially if you were a Raider fan.
Rutland goalie Jessie Wilson (three saves) was sick with a bad cold but her defense stepped up and played perhaps their best game of the season. Tobin and Morgan Gibeault were outstanding in creating turnovers and initiating the transition offense with their great speed.
Gfeller and Ashley Boucher ruled the midfield, while Wright, DelBianco and Kiefaber were strong on the attack, dishing and shooting to disrupt the Rebel defense.
Wright led the way but she had tons of support. DelBianco added two goals and six assists, Gfeller and Grace Wright scored two goals apiece, while Kiefaber, Gibeault, Boucher, Chelsea Monaco, Sara Lovett and Chelsea Temple added single goals to the effort.
With 18 goals scored, it's curious to say that South Burlington goalie McDonald had a good game but she was very strong in net for the Rebels, with 11 saves.
King had three goals and an assist to lead the Rebels, while Brittany LeClair added a goal and an assist, Haleigh Gill and Molly Higgins chipped in single goals.
chuck.clarino@rutlandherald.com
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