Villa Edges St. Joe's in Lacrosse Classic

Villa Duchesne lacrosse coach Andrew Shipp called it "THE" game of the 2011 season.

And his Saints responded in a big way with a thrilling 8-7 victory over St. Joseph's Academy Saturday in the 2011 Spring Lacrosse Classic at St. Joe's.

"It's the first time that we have beaten them since I have been coach," said Shipp, who is in his fourth year with the Saints. "It is a huge win. The field hockey rivalry between the two schools has spilled over to lacrosse."

Villa junior Sydney Tomaso was all smiles after her team  held off a late rally by the Angels.

"This is our biggest game of the season, maybe even more than the post season," Tomaso said. "They are our rivals and I know I haven't been on a team which has beaten them. Today we came out strong and we were determined not to let down like we have in some games in the second half this season."

The game was tied 3-3 at halftime after Villa's Bentley Boldt scored with just 14 second remaining in the half.

Villa's Lauren Nickson scored the second of her two goals in the first minute of the second half but St. Joe's would eventually take the lead on goals by Susie Meskill and Nikki Hinkebein.

The Saints would come back though with four unanswered goals by Tomaso, Savannah Paletta, Maggie Heintzelman and Lauren Mangano. Mangano's goal came from a perfect feed from Tomaso with just over two minutes to play. It also came after a big save by Saint goalie Mackenzie Sullivan, who made several big saves, especially in the second half.

St. Joe's would not give up, scoring twice in the final 37 seconds of the game including one by Meskill with two seconds left.

"We were tired after playing six games in five days," said St. Joe's coach Jennifer Bisch, whose team beat the Saints 3-2 last year. "Villa is an excellent transition team. That is how they scored most of the their goals."

St. Joe's fell to 10-5 for the season while Villa improved to 6-5.

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