Smoky Hill goalkeeper Chelsea Wagner wants her opponent’s best shot – it keeps her focused – and Mullen’s girls lacrosse team gave Wagner all she wanted until the final horn sounded.
Wagner stopped two dead-on shots in the final 30 seconds to help Smoky Hill hang on for a 9-8 victory Thursday night at de la Salle Stadium. The Buffaloes stayed perfect at 3-0.
“I prefer to see more shots,” said Wagner, who stopped 12 of the 20 shots she faced. “I get hot when the shots are coming. If they aren’t, you can get kind of cold.”
Amber Lister, Kristi Irgens and Lindsey Graff scored two goals apiece for the Buffaloes, who broke open a tie game with three unanswered goals to start the second half.
Mullen (1-1-1) fell behind 9-5 in the final 10 minutes but made it close when Savanah Khanna cut Smoky Hill’s lead to one on a direct shot after a penalty.
Khanna and Megan Zeman scored two goals each, and goalkeeper Alisa Konishi stopped 11-of-20 shots on her goal.
Kellie Campbell opened the scoring for the Mustangs, but Lister tied it up quickly after running the length of the field and delivering an overhead, one-hop goal.
The teams traded goals – including a juke-left, shoot-right goal by Zeman – to make the score 4-4 at halftime. After the break, the Buffaloes came out clicking.
Lister set up Monica Campos for the go-ahead goal, and Graff followed that by juking a defender and beating Konishi up high. Lister assisted on another goal, this time to Cortny Brooks, to put Smoky Hill up 7-4.
“A lot of times I know I have more speed than the defense. … Once I see a seam down the middle, I have confidence to take it inside,” Lister said.
Down 9-5, Mullen tried to rally. Zeman scored her second goal before setting up Molly Carstensen for another score. With 2:30 remaining, Zeman made it a one-goal game with a goal on a direct shot, but Wagner took care of the final minutes with clutch saves.
“I don’t think we were at the top of our mental game (at the beginning of the second half),” Mullen coach Patience Baldwin said. “We ended up playing down just that much, and Smoky Hill took advantage.”
Smoky Hill 4 5 – 9
Mullen 4 4 – 8
Goals – Lister 2, Irgens 2, Graff 2, Brooks, Miyazawa, Campos; Zeman 2, Khanna 2, Campbell, McMorris, Stapp, Carstensen.
Assists – Lister 2; Campbell 2, Stapp, Khanna.
Shots on goal – Smoky Hill 13-7 – 20; Mullen 9-11 – 20.
Saves – Smoky Hill (Wagner) 5-8 – 12; Mullen (Konishi) 9-2 – 11.
Yellow cards – Campos (12th minute), Lister (40th).
