Riverdale girls destroy Dalton for

fifth straight win to open lacrosse

season, dominant start has Lady

Falcons’ eyes on pair of big prizes

By Jason Eisenberg

April 19, 2011 -- Every year, for the past five years, the Riverdale Country

School girls’ lacrosse team has improved its record from the prior season.

They have finished with at least four more wins than losses in three

consecutive years -- an impressive stretch that culminated with a 15-2

mark in 2010 and earned the Lady Falcons a share of the Ivy League title

with Hackley.

With this kind of consistent improvement and sustained success, it

would seem unlikely that Riverdale could still manage to get even better.

However, if the early results are any indication, it is starting to look like

2011 might just be the most memorable season yet for the high-flying

Lady Falcons.

Last Friday, in the final game before the Easter/Passover break,

Riverdale demonstrated its superiority right from the opening whistle, in a merciless 16-2 pummeling of an overmatched Dalton squad on Bertino Field. This victory raised the Lady Falcons’ record to a perfect 5-0, including a flawless 4-0 mark against Ivy League foes. But, as the final score would suggest, the Riverdale girls are not merely beating opponents, they are annihilating them. In fact, the Lady Falcons currently boast a nine-goal average margin-of-victory through the first five games on the schedule.

Head coach Carol Pouliot has built a program so deep with talent that the local team still easily dispatched of Dalton despite playing without three of its top five scorers -- senior Mia Hopper (17 goals), younger sister Madeline Hopper (8 goals) and senior Zoe Loveman (7 goals) -- all of whom were attending Bat Mitzvahs.

“You are always at least a bit worried when down that many key starters, and I told them it was okay this time, but if it was the game against Hackley, they would have had to reschedule the Bat Mitzvahs,” said a smiling Coach Pouliot. “There were a couple of veterans who knew they had to step up and they clearly carried the team today, but some of the younger girls also showed they were hungry and took pride in getting more time on the field than usual.”

It was two of these veterans that put Riverdale in control of the game almost immediately. Senior attacker Katherine Coles scored the first two goals of the game and then junior midfielder Lindsay Picard followed that up with three consecutive scores of her own to give the Lady Falcons a 5-0 lead after just four minutes had elapsed off the clock. Coles and Picard would each hit the back of the net again during the next five minutes and together combined for the first seven goals scored in the contest.

The three goals by Coles increased her season-total to 13, which is good enough for third-best on the squad, while Picard would add two more goals in the second half for an incredible total of six in the game and jumped ahead of Mia Hopper to take over the team-scoring lead with 19 on the year.

However, they were far from the only ones to get on the scoresheet during this offensive explosion by the Lady Falcons. Midfielder Jackie Dworkin scored twice, fellow sophomores Sydney Hard and Ali Hyman added one goal apiece, as did senior Bronwen Schumacher and junior Isabella Bertagna. Without question, the most unlikely offensive contributor of the day was senior Emily Birge, who is one-half of the team’s goalkeeping duo, but was inserted as an attacker late in the game and scored on her very first shot of the season.

Birge and fellow goalie Brittany Brown both saw time in net and each allowed just a single goal, while Riverdale also received strong defensive performances from Sara McManus, Kelly Suchman, Sophia Sciabica and Hallie Garvey.

In the end, though, there could be no argument about who the star of the show was on this day.  

“I am very proud of my performance today and I have never scored that many times in a game for Riverdale before, but the most important thing is that it was a great win for the team,” said Picard. “We did a very good job transitioning between offense and defense, we controlled almost every draw, and a lot of different players showed they can score. We are trying to go all the way this year, whether that means going undefeated, winning the league or being state champs, we are aiming high and going to climb as far as we can.”

These top two prizes -- sole possession of an Ivy League crown as well as a state title --  are just about the only accomplishments that have eluded the Lady Falcons during their steady string of success over the past half-decade. Already boasting a big win over Hackley earlier this month, Riverdale is the only Ivy team that remains undefeated and the local team will now try to maintain its hold on the top spot in the standings after being forced to share the honor last season. The Lady Falcons will then look to take the next step in the NYSAIS state tournament, where they advanced to the semifinals last season, after being eliminated in the first round the previous four years in a row.

“We have a great group of athletes here at Riverdale and I watch the other sports teams whenever I can. I am not a fool, so I specifically recruited the strongest, fastest and most aggressive girls in the school for this program,” said Coach Pouliot, whose squad is almost entirely comprised of multi-sport athletes, including several members of the state champion soccer team.

“We want to take everything as it comes, one at a time, but yes, this is the year we have been building for. Pushing to win the Ivies on our own and making a run in the state tournament ... we are now at the point where I can say these are definitely realistic goals.” 

REPORTER’S NOTEBOOK

RIVERDALE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Lindsay Picard - The junior midfielder took over the team scoring lead with six goals on the day, including four of Riverdale’s first seven in the contest. Picard regularly beat defenders throughout the game using her speed as well as above-average ball control, but she also seems to have the natural ability to get open at the right time in front of the net. 

Honorable mention: Katherine Coles - The senior attacker got the Riverdale onslaught started by scoring the team’s first two goals and finished second only to Picard with a total of three on the day. However, Coles could have had several more, as she had a game-high 11 shots on goal, but was robbed multiple times by the opposing goalie and also hit the post twice.