For the Edgemont Panthers girls lacrosse team, they couldn’t have asked for a better season. Fresh off of winning their first league title in nearly 20 years, which saw sophomore star midfielder Illiana Dimopolous score her 100th career goal, the Panthers were riding high heading into the first round of the Section 1 Class C tournament. Unfortunately, the game did not go the Panthers’ way, as they fell 21-6 to the host Pelham Pelicans at Glover Field on Tuesday, May 17.
The Pelicans dominated from the get-go, winning multiple draw controls and facilitating their offense while utilizing their size and strength. The Panthers never gave up, however, and continued to fight despite positional changes and the Pelicans’ physical style of play that forced players like Dimopolous out of the game for a few minutes. With Edgemont winning a league title this year, head coach Jennifer Wandle was not ashamed of the performance and felt like the program has made massive strides over the past few years.
“Just being here this year is a huge improvement for this program,” Wandle said. “We really felt like we earned the No. 9 seed in the playoffs this year. We hadn’t seen a team like Pelham in the league this season, and they are an excellent program, and we had a lot to learn from them. We couldn’t ask for a better season than this.”
Edgemont will graduate seven seniors from this year’s team, which include attackers Nayna Gandhi, Thea Piniros, Mehek Nanavaty, defenders Ella Charnizon, Quincy Bianchi, Amanda Jaffe and goalie Stephanie Kornberg. Wandle emphasized the impact these seniors had on the program and said they never went down without a fight.
Said Wandle, “I am incredibly proud of this program and these girls and this season is hopefully a launching pad for our future.”
Wandle completed her third season at Edgemont, but this was truly her first “real” year coaching because of the COVID-19 pandemic canceling the 2020 spring season and the 2021 season full of restrictions and the team being up and down.
“I’ve only been coaching during the COVID time, so it’s definitely been interesting,” Wandle said. “This is really my first real year coaching, so we were finally able to see the full potential of this program and for them to see that they fully deserved their spot in the playoffs really shows the progress this team has made.”
For the Panthers, Dimopolous only scored one goal, as the Pelham defense swarmed her every chance they got. Gabby O’Reilly tallied five goals to help carry the Panthers’ offense that could never really get going. Wandle was impressed by the standout performance by O’Reilly. “She’s one of those players that never gives up until the end,” Wandle said.
Isa Mello had two assists, while Maddy Frain had nine saves. The Panthers had to switch up spots around the field, as Dimopolous switched to help out on defense and let O’Reilly take the reins on offense.
For Pelham, they impressed after scoring 11 seconds into the game. Emma Crotty had a standout performance, with four goals and one assist. Mia Orlando had three goals and dominated the draw control, winning 16 times, which put her at over 200 draw control wins on the year. Taylor Green scored four goals.
The Panthers took a disappointing loss to end an incredible season, but Wandle now has her plans set for the future. The seniors leaving have left a great mark on the program, but Wandle now looks for who’s coming up next.
“Our seven seniors leaving is very tough, that’s most of our starting lineup,” Wandle said. “We do have a lot of underclassmen, and our JV program is in full swing, and some of those girls are ready to come up to varsity. They definitely have big shoes to fill, but this program trajectory is at an all-time high, and I am super excited for the future of this team.”
Edgemont concluded the regular season with a 15-4 league win over Blind Brook on Wednesday, May 11. Dimopolous netted four goals including the 100th of her career as just a sophomore. She had one assist.
Also contributing to the win were Penelope Kraus (2 goals, 1 assist), Gandhi (1 goal), O’Reilly (4 goals, 2 assists), Piniros (1 goal), Mello (3 goals) and Frain (10 saves).
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