Rochester lays the hurt on Rochester Adams
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ON THE MOVE: Rochester's Emily Skubic drives past Rochester Adams' Emily Deane during Monday's OAA White Division contest. Staff Photo | Dan Stickradt
ROCHESTER HILLS — It wasn’t that long ago when Rochester United went though some serious growing pains in girls lacrosse. Starting just six years ago, the team brought in players from all three Rochester public high schools with very little knowledge or experience in the sport.
This year, for the first time, all three schools have their own teams, which Rochester Adams splintering off the Rochester United program this year, which it shared with Rochester Stoney Creek last season.
Adams’ first-year struggles continued Monday at the expense of one of its natural rivals, Rochester. The homestanding Falcons scored on their first two shots of the game, both in the game’s opening 33 seconds, and never looked back in laying a 13-2 beating on the Highlanders.
“We just came out clicking offensively,” smiled Rochester coach Dave Hamel.
Rochester (4-1, 1-0) did not waste any time getting uncorked offensively, scoring just 14 seconds into the contest. Jordin Pardoski, who finished with three goals, netted a close-range goal to open the floodgates. Just 19 seconds later, Maggie Ng, who also netted the hat trick, scored to make it 2-0 before the Highlanders (0-7-0, 0-2-0) knew what hit them.
It was 4-0 before Adams attempted its first shot and 6-0 before Adams got on the scoreboard.
Marisa Taderosa scored for Adams with 5:04 left in the first half. The only other goal the Highlanders could muster was with 6:42 to play in the game, when Olivia Salmon tallied.
The frustrations are starting to mount for Adams, which inherited only four players that played varsity on the Rochester United team last season. Plus, the Highlanders were far from full-strength against the defending conference champion Falcons.
“We have five girls injured right now,” said Adams coach Ashley Howald, trying to find ways to keep her new program competitive. “That was not our best game by far.
“From our first game, to our second and third games (we saw improvement),” said Howald. “This was only game where we did not show some type of improvement. We were just dragging. We’ve been practicing on Sundays and coming out hard. We just came out (flat) for some reason (and) without some starters, we were hurting.”
While Hamel is pleased with his team’s offensive output this season, he’s even more pleased with the significant improvement of the back line on defense this season. No team has scored in double digits against the Falcons this season.
“I’m really pleased with our growth defensively. We don’t really have an experienced crew, we only have two players back (on defense) from last year,” said Hamel. “We put in a new defense, a much more active, aggressive defense with the combination zone defense and the girls have been learning it pretty quickly.”
Up 7-1 at the half, the Falcons continued to show no mercy and pile it on in the second half, outscoring Adams 6-1 over the final 25 minutes, tipping off the running clock with 9:30 left.
Natalie Prisciandaro and Katie Krako both added two goals each, while Emily Skubic and Rachel Bellestri netted one goal apiece to cap the scoring for Rochester.
Aly Rosenau continued her hot hand between the pipes, recording nine saves. Rochester outshot Adams 22-14, including 19-11with shots directly on frame.
“Our goalie is really strong,” said Hamel. “When we make a few mistakes on defense, she covers up for us nicely.”
Hamel remembers the day when Rochester United began only six years ago, and now there are three separate girls progams in the Rochester community Schools.
“It’s very exciting for me, because I coached the original Rochester United team when it was all three schools (combined),”recalled Hamel. “Now to see this year to have Rochester, Stoney Creek and Adams have their own teams is a wonderful team.”
Category: High School, High School (M-Z), Prep Wraps, Rochester, Rochester Adams
