The Falcons were victorious against Blair, defeating the Bucs 14-2.
By: Neil Hay
It’s one year later. The players that comprise the Peddie girls’ lacrosse team have been together that much longer. They are more experienced, and know each other’s moves better too.
Little wonder that, going into tomorrow’s big matchup against Lawrenceville, the Falcons are 11-0.
"Mostly they are the same players from last year. They are a year older and have been together another year."
That explanation for Peddie’s 2003 success was offered by Coach Allison Warner. With top scorers like Whitney Douthett and Kat Peetz up front, and a stingy defense in front of ‘keeper Brittany Besler, the Falcons have had little difficulty in breezing past most opponents this spring.
"Our strength is both our defense and our attack," agreed Warner.
Peddie remained perfect Wednesday with a 14-2 win at Blair. Peetz had five goals, Douthett three goals and four assists, and Nikki Yesalavage three goals, to spark the attack. Also scoring were Shirah Hamor (two goals) and Emily Palilonis (one). Besler guarded the net for the Falcons.
Despite the 12-goal margin of victory, it took most of the first half for Peddie to get untracked. With six minutes before intermission the locals led only 4-2.
"It took us a while to gain control. Maybe it was the bus ride" of about two hours to Blairstown, which accounted for the team’s sluggish start. Once the Falcons threw off the cobwebs, however, the Bucs could not compete.
On Monday Peetz had four goals and four assists as the Falcons rolled past visiting Hun, 15-3. Yesalavage (one assist) and Sarah Nasland each had three goals, Douthett had one score and five assists, and Laura Cenker (assist), Ana Sokol, Andrea Duggan, and Laura Giusto each had one goal.
Two days earlier, Peddie defeated West Windsor-South, 14-4, at home as Peetz scored four times and Hamor netted three. Douthett chipped in with two goals and assisted on four others, Najah Woodby and Yesalavage had two tallies each and Sokol one.
Only against Hill, back on April 5, did an opponent keep Peddie from scoring in double figures. The Falcons won that one, 8-4. Otherwise, the locals have been putting up big numbers while keeping the opposition to six goals or less: 13-6 over West Windsor-North, 11-4 over Stuart, 14-2 over Mercersburg Academy, 16-4 over Princeton, and 13-3 over Pingry are indicative of the way Peddie has been winning big.
As the numbers show, "We take pride in playing good defense," said Warner.
Tuesday Peddie will host either Stuart or defending champs Montclair-Kimberly in the quarterfinals of the state Prep A Tournament. The Falcons, who have not won the tournament recently, are the top seed. Earlier this year Peddie defeated Stuart, 11-4. Peddie and Montclair-Kimberly have not met in the regular season.

