St. Mary's 'Outclassed' In Loss To St. Paul's

High-Powered Saints Shut Down by Gators: St. Paul's 11, St. Mary's-Annapolis 3

BROOKLANDVILLE, Md., April 9 -- So much of what had carried No. 6 St. Mary's-Annapolis through the beginning of the season -- an explosive, multi-pronged offense -- escaped the Saints in an 11-3 loss to host St. Paul's on Saturday in an Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A1 Conference girls' lacrosse game.

As surprised as they were disappointed by their performance, the Saints could do little more than archive the game and try to forget about it, rather than let any self-doubt seep in.

"We're focused on what's next," Saints midfielder Bridget Noon said. "That's kind of our motto. We fell apart in all aspects of the game today. We'll move on and put it all together."

St. Mary's (5-3, 2-2 IAAM) entered the contest averaging 14.7 goals a game; its only losses were one-goal decisions to No. 2 St. Stephen's/St. Agnes and No. 5 Severn. Two goals by freshman Caroline Cochran yesterday were the lone bright spot for St. Mary's, which put forth its lowest scoring output of the season.

Baltimore area school St. Paul's (6-0, 4-0), the reigning conference champion, was the picture of offensive efficiency yesterday. The Gators fired 10 shots on goal in the first half and scored on all but two of them. Duke-bound midfielder Megan Del Monte led the way with four goals and two assists.

"I expected to see that kind of play out of [St. Paul's]," Saints Coach Sue Chittim said. "I expected to see more cohesiveness out of my team. I expected to see more patience. What has gotten us to the wins that we've had is playing as a unit and backing each other up. For whatever reason, I didn't see it today. I still have the utmost confidence in my team, but we got outclassed."

St. Paul's scored on each of its first four shots, including two from Del Monte, to take a 4-1 lead less than nine minutes into the game. After another St. Paul's goal, Cochran answered to bring the Saints within 5-2.

But the Gators pulled away from there. The critical blow came at the end of the first half, when midfielder Ellen Cook corralled her own rebound and whipped a shot past goalie Morgan Kelly as time expired to give St. Paul's an 8-2 lead at halftime.

"We have a lot of offensive firepower, so being down 4-1 is not a mountain we can't climb," Chittim said. "We just couldn't climb it today. We'll be back."