The only thing stopping Emily Forbes on Friday was a right leg cramp – but only briefly.
Ryle hardly contained Cooper’s junior attacker. Her five goals gave the Jaguars a 9-6 win – and their first District 5 girls lacrosse title – at Dixie Heights High School.
“The whole game is just kind of a blur because this is the biggest thing ever,” Forbes said.
The only person who enjoyed Friday more than the players was Cooper coach Tito Beltran.
“Because the dedication and the commitment, the sacrifice, when it comes together for them, it’s just great joy,” Beltran said.
Ryle (8-8) coach Jon Durham said there was no letdown after Thursday’s 7-6 win over defending champion Notre Dame. What frustrated the Raiders Friday was Cooper’s 5-1 lead after one quarter – a rerun of a 10-8 loss to the Jaguars on May 1.
“We’ve had a challenge with our starts all year long,” Durham said. “Usually we finish a little stronger, and today we didn’t play as well as a team as we could have.”
Ryle’s strategy had less to do with containing Forbes than double-teaming Maddie Reinert, whose 53 goals this season (and 150 for her career, including scores before the Kentucky High School Athletic Association sanctioned girls lacrosse last year) leads the team.
“Oh, they were just face-guarding me on the field the whole way,” Reinert said. “So I was leaning on my teammates and passing and opening lanes for them to get goals.”
Forbes and Reinert also added two assists apiece.
PHOTOS: Slideshow provided by Charles Bolton
Those passing lanes frequently left Forbes, who has 31 goals this season and 69 for her career, with a sometimes Ohio River-wide path to Ryle goalkeeper Meaghan Bailey. It took only 95 seconds for Cooper (9-6) for Forbes to split two Raiders and score.
“When Maddie got face-guarded, it really opened up everything for me because everybody’s main focus is on (Reinert),” Forbes said. “And I just slide right in, and my teammates give me awesome passes to shoot.”
Beltran thought Ryle would also face-guard Forbes. His plan: feed the ball to Kamden McCane and Courtlyn Henry.
“And once we tried to do that a little bit, they let go of my two shooters, and we were able to capitalize,” Beltran said.
Less than a minute later, Courtlyn Henry took her defender clockwise from the X zone behind Bailey for the 2-0 lead; she served an assist on the first of Forbes’ second goal with 6:19 left.
Ryle hung around – after Paisha Parks scored with 4:30 left in the first, goals by Madison Beach and Brooklyn Reiber helped the Raiders close to 5-3 time early in the third – just in time for Cooper to pull away, 8-6, on Reinert’s penalty shot and two Forbes goals.
Both Cooper and Ryle advance to next week’s state tournament. The Jaguars host the Region 7 runner-up, while the Raiders meet the Region 7 champion. (Both games are scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Wednesday.)
Beltran didn’t plan on practicing until Monday, but he did assign homework – to tell their families they loved them.
All-tournament team
Sarah Kate Siroky (Dixie Heights), Corryn Kohls (Notre Dame), Kendra Smith (St. Henry), Meaghan Bailey (Ryle), Paisha Parks (Ryle), Maddy Reinert (Cooper), Claira Kemper (Cooper). Most Valuable Player: Emily Forbes, Cooper.