ROCKY RIVER, Ohio (May 23, 2023) -- After a 15-2 rout of Revere, the Rocky River Pirates are lined up for a crack at the Bay Rockets and a chance to win their third straight Region 5 crown. [
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The top-seeded-in-DII Region 5 Pirates continued an impressive bracket run Tuesday with a superb offensive performance and top-notch goalkeeping against the fourth-seeded Minutemen. The Pirates (16-3) went 13-for-13 on clears, committed just 10 turnovers against a tough Revere defense, and had six players ledger netfinders on a warm spring evening at Rocky River Stadium.
Five of those six scored Rocky River's first five goals in a display of depth and nifty passing. They did so alongside a stretch of save-after-save by netminder Acadia Hover, who turned aside the first three shots Revere put on cage. Hover stopped two shots in one possession in the third minute, and her early play had the Pirates embroiled in a taut 3-1 contest for a long stretch through the middle minutes of the first half. Those minutes could well have had a different feel and energy if not for Hover's quick reactions.
At 7:33 of the first, the Maroon & White got a big momentum goal from Elle Mocho -- assisted by Kaitlyn Byrne. The twine-finder vaulted the Pirate cushion to three (4-1). It came at the end of a 17-minute tussle more even than what showed in the score. It came at the end of seven minutes-and-change of scoreless lacrosse when the momentum of the match was very much in the balance. And in hindsight, the game between River and Revere can easily be cut in two: before that Mocho goal (a back-and-forth tussle, both sides getting their shots) and after (all-River nearly every minute of the way, with the Pirates forcing turnovers, finding seams, and getting good looks). That rest of the way included the Striped Buccaneers managing an ever-widening score all the way to the final horn.
Revere (12-8-1) had scored one goal before the Mocho momentum hammer and would score one after. Both were impressive, hard-working efforts -- one by junior Clarissa Bodjanac (11:17 of the first), one by freshman Kira Perez (5:57 of the first). The Minutemen were otherwise held scoreless, for the opening 13 minutes of play and the final 30. Over those 43 minutes, Hover -- who stopped just 1-of-8 shots when the Minutemen and Pirates tangled in an 8-7 River win in the March 18 season opener -- was a brick wall. A brick wall fronted by pellet thieves Reagan Connelly, Grace DeWitt, Annika Mocho, and Mackenzie Russell, all who finished with multiple caused turnovers.
With DeWitt planting three first-half goal, River went into halftime leading 7-2. By the time Kaitlyn Byrne scored quick back-to-back goals -- at 16:24 and 13:53 of the second half -- the Pirates had upped their level of swashbuckling and were in control of a 12-2 game with a running clock.
Byrne would get one of River's last three goals -- on a Daisy Thompson feed at 4:16 -- to finish the evening with four goals and two assists. That performance marked her 10th game this season (and 24th of her career) with three-or-more goals. Since April 25, the junior attacker has filed 37 points (29G, 8A) in seven games.
For the game, Byrne and company outshot Revere 29-10. The Pirates edged the Minutemen 10-8 on draws, 10 to 13 on turnovers, and 15-9 on ground balls. Annika Mocho led the squad in scoops and spills; she had four ground balls and three caused turnovers. For the season, the artful defender leads the team in both categories (67 GB, 49 CT).
Hover, Mocho, and company held a Revere team that had piled up 63 goals over four straight wins going in to a pair of goals on 10 shots.
So, peg this one -- even with Byrne's six points, Grace DeWitt getting six of her own (4G, 2A), and Olivia Konopka being credited with five (3G, 2A) -- as an all-around, up-and-down-the-roster, every-part-of-the-field triumph. And the Pirates may well need a similar effort if they are going to advance to a Buckeye State final four for a third straight year.
On Thursday, the Buccaneers host No. 2 Bay, a team that including an 18-13 Tuesday win over No. 7 Cuyahoga Valley has won seven straight games and a squad that has scored 52 goals across three postseason games.
Thursday evening at 6 p.m. at Rocky River Stadium: the No. 1 Pirates and No. 2 Rockets.
A War by the Shore, and on the line -- a final four.by Skip Snow