Roland Park Country Upsets Bryn Mawr in IAAM Lacrosse Semifinal

Junior attacker Jenna Reifler scored two of the game’s last three goals—including the game winner—to help lift the Roland Park Country School past host Bryn Mawr, 12-11, in an IAAM A conference semifinal lacrosse game on Thursday.

Reifler, who paced the Reds with four goals and an assist, was cutting in from the left and took a feed from Caroline Seats to score the game winner.

“She did a great feed into the middle,” Reifler said of Seats’ pass that set up the final goal of the game.

“I know [Bryn Mawr goalie] Molly Wolf is an awesome goalie so I tried to move her like we’ve been practicing all year, and the ball went in.”

The score came with the Reds in a player-up situation due to a yellow card issued after a Mawrtian stick came into contact with a Reds player's head.

It was an unlikely end to a game that saw the Mawrtians jump out to a four-goal first-half lead, then take two-goal advantages twice in the second half.

RPCS battled back from the first-half deficit by scoring four of the last five goals to narrow the margin to 6-5 at the break. The final two came 12 seconds apart in the final half minute.

The Reds scored the first two goals of the second half, and secured their first lead at 7-6 . But Bryn Mawr responded with three of its own to retake a 9-7 lead.  The Reds again bounced back to tie the game at 9-9, but the seesaw affair turned toward the Mawrtians, who pulled ahead 9-7 with 12:23 left in the game.

At that point Roland Park coach Kristin Nicolini called a time-out to settle the team down, a move that Reifler said helped calm their nerves.

“We all cheered ‘believe’—and we all believed we could really win,” Reifler said.

The resilient Reds rebounded with back-to-back scores within 12 seconds of each other, one by Reifler off a Madison Formwalt feed, the other by Betsy Angel, assisted by Mattie Meredith, to knot the score with 8:56 left to play and set the stage for the game winner.

“You know, luckily, we’ve done that all year so our kids know how to ride it out,” Nicolini said of the early Mawrtian margin. “We told them Bryn Mawr is a very talented team and they’re going to go on runs.”

Angel finished the game with two goals and three assists. Teammate Audrey Todd contributed three goals, while Formwalt, Meredith and Meggie Ramzy netted the other Reds goals. Meredith also had three assists.

Kate Snouffer paced the Mawrtian scorers with three goals and an assist. Caroline Turco had two goals and one assist, with Morgan Rubin and Sam McGee each scoring twice. Kassandra Bowling and Erica Matz had one goal apiece. Nancy Dunbar assisted on one score.

Wolf had numerous saves for Bryn Mawr, including two back-to-back denials when the team was down a player near the 16:30 mark of the second half.

It was the second time the two neighborhood rivals have met this year. Bryn Mawr bested RPCS 15-9 in a game played at Roland Park on April 19.

When asked about the pre-game atmosphere, especially coming off the earlier loss to the Mawrtians, Nicolini said the Reds showed more of a calm excitement.

“Last time it was more of a frenetic excitement,” she said. “It’s such a rivalry, I can’t explain it—it is just such a big thing for them.”

For Reifler, it is the first time the Reds have topped the Mawrtians in lacrosse.

“I don’t even know how many years,” she said. “We’ve never beaten them since I’ve been on the team, the seniors hadn’t won, so I know for at least four years, maybe more.”

The Reds move on to the A conference championship game on Saturday at the Gerstell Academy in Finksburg, beginning at 3 p.m. They will face unbeaten McDonogh, who advanced to the final with a 12-7 win over Notre Dame Prep.

“We’re going to play our game,” Nicolini said of the pending contest.

“I know they’re on a huge win streak right now—they’re a powerhouse. We just have to bring our best game to them and hope for the best.”

And if recent history is an indicator, the game will be hard fought. The two teams played a nail-biter at Roland Park on March 22 that saw the Lady Eagles leave with a 16-14 win.

“I know we have it in us,” Reifler said. “We know we have to go out on the field and do everything we can to win.”

As for playing in a championship, she said, “It is the most amazing feeling in the world.”