Chagrin Falls vs. Hathaway Brown girls lacrosse: Tigers prevail in match-up of top seeds 16-10

May 21—It was a fast start for Chagrin Falls with four goals at the beginning of the first half against Hathaway Brown in a D-II district final on May 21. The fast start proved to be pivotal for the top seeded Tigers as they went against the second seeded Blazers.

While the offense started the game strong, the defense of Chagrin Falls was able to hold against a strong Hathaway Brown attack. The Tigers went on to win 16-10 and advanced to a D-II regional semifinal.

Chagrin Falls will host Chardon on May 24 with a trip to a D-II regional final on the line.

The Tigers started the game well from the opening draw but Hathaway Brown controlled a majority of the draws, and trimmed the lead down to three goals. Chagrin Falls then swapped Peyton Gellin out of the draw circle and put in Lyla Breeden.

It was a strong Hathaway Brown attack against @ChagrinAD but head coach KC White was happy with how the defense handled their game plan #NHLacrosse pic.twitter.com/jB1pA3DkVY

— Ben Hercik (@BHercikNH) May 21, 2022

"One of the strengths on our team is that we have a lot of different places we can turn to," said Chagrin Falls coach KC White. "When we put Lyla Breeden into the draw, that gave Peyton the opportunity to be around the circle. Lyla has height and that gave us an advantage but we were also able to switch back to Peyton because of our versatility and that allows us to find the best look at the moment."

The early goals for Chagrin Falls included a hat trick for Gellin, who needed less than 10 minutes for those goals. She finished the game with five as the lead scorer for the Tigers.

A plethora of the Tigers goals came off of penalties, which allowed free possessions for the Tigers and better looks. It was something that Gellin and the rest of the attack focused on with their offensive game plan, work around the arc and find the best scoring chance whether it be to draw a penalty or on the cut.

A smart attack was the goal of @ChagrinAD and Peyton Gellin and the Tigers attackers did that and took advantage of free possessions and getting plenty of shots on goal #NHLacrosse pic.twitter.com/W9O9hf4Zp0

— Ben Hercik (@BHercikNH) May 21, 2022

"A big word this week was patience, we didn't want to force anything and wanted to find the best look," said Gellin. "Draw control is important because that gives you momentum to start a possession and when we were in transition, we made sure to pay attention to good passes and make sure that we did adjacent slides to get into a good position."

Also with double-digit goals for Chagrin Falls was Aubree Daugherty, who finished with four and Sarah Burgess, Alex Chinnici and Bailey Corto with two apiece.

Hathaway Brown stayed within range for the first half. Chagrin Falls junior defender Elizabeth Rankin knew that preventing the Hathaway Brown transition was priority number as well as forcing them into challenging shots.

The defense for @ChagrinAD knew they couldn't let the transition game of the Blazers get easy looks on goal. Elizabeth Rankin and the Tigers defenders made them have to work for every goal #NHLacrosse pic.twitter.com/Z3bZmGtk6F

— Ben Hercik (@BHercikNH) May 21, 2022

"That was vital and the communication on the defensive end was very important for us," said Rankin. "The bond that we've created on that end of the field is strong and has been big in helping us get to the top seed in the region. The communication was even more stressed because Hathaway Brown has a lot of speed and is good in transition. Being able to get on the ball and not allowing them to dive into their attacks was big. Our coaches said that was what they were doing in their last game so we weren't going to let them do it against us."

White added: "Hathaway Brown is a tough competitor so we really focused on playing really solid body defense and working as a unit. We wanted to shift together, have strong communication and pounce on every ground ball. I'm really proud of how our defense came together on that side of the field."

Hathaway Brown was led by Meg Gannon with her three goals while Taryn Kucharski and Teagan Clark each added a pair.