Kerrigan Miller (left) was one of the Long Island-based players to lead the North (Photo: Casey Vock, 3dRising.com)
TOWSON, Md. — The North squad used a balanced attack — featuring nine different goal scorers — to defeat the South 13-11 in the Under Armour All-American Lacrosse Senior Girls Bame Saturday behind a three-goal, two-assist effort from Mattituck’s Katie Hoeg, one of 31 American Family Insurance ALL-USA selections in the event.
Six players tallied goals in the first half alone as the North outscored the South 7-4 to give the Long Island-heavy team a three-goal advantage — a lead it would hold in the second half thanks to solid play on both sides of the field.
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“I’ve been playing with a lot of the girls forever,” said Hoeg, who put up 56 goals and 58 assists in the spring and will play at North Carolina. “This is the last game we get to play together.
“A lot of us are going to different colleges, so it was really nice to play together for the last time. We knew we wanted to win, but we wanted to have fun too.”
Katie Hoeg with the MVP trophy (Photo: Casey Vock, 3dRising.com)
In the first half, five of the North’s seven goals were scored or assisted by a player from Long Island. Eight of the North’s 13 goals eventually came from girls hailing from Long Island.
“Long Island — we kind of have a certain aggression to us,” Hoeg joked after the game, referring to her Long Island teammates. “Our coaches really wanted us to be competitive. They didn’t want us to lose to the South and they wanted us to get into a that mindset. We’re friends with them off the field, but we really wanted to win.”
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Leading the North’s defense was netminder Asa Goldstock of the New Hampton School (N.H.), who was the ALL-USA first-team goaltender this season. The Syracuse-bound senior registered four saves in the first half in keeping the South to just four goals, and she also added a big jolt midway by firing a full-field pass to Erin Barry (Manhasset, N.Y.), who took the pass and sprinted in to score in transition. The highlight-reel play put the North up 6-2, one of its biggest leads of the game.
“Playing against this talent was so amazing because it’s letting me see what the next level is like in college,” said Goldstock, who hails from the Albany, N.Y. area. “Being here and playing with girls I’ve played with or against my whole life, it’s really rewarding.”
Leading the South was McDonogh’s Brindi Griffin, who scored three goals and added two assists. The first-team American Family ALL-USA selection added three ground balls, two draw controls and three caused turnovers after completing her high school career without losing a game for Super 25 No. 1 McDonogh in her career. Manchester Valley’s Lizzie Colson — the ALL-USA Girls Lacrosse Player of the Year — contributed a goal and two assists in the contest.
In total, 17 of the goals in the girls Under Armour All-America game were scored by players selected to the American Family All-USA teams.