05/21/2009

LADUE — The dream season of the John Burroughs School girls lacrosse team came to a finish Wednesday as the Bombers knocked off visiting Nerinx Hall 6-4 to capture the state championship.

Burroughs (20-1) came from behind to win the title, scoring the first five goals of the second half to break open a 1-1 match.

Nerinx grabbed the lead on a Caroline Leritz goal midway through the opening half, but the Bombers' Erica Barnell tied it with 2:06 to play before halftime.

"It was a great defensive first half,'' Burroughs coach Peter Tasker said. "Their goalie (Brittany McNeal) was impenetrable and the defense around her was strong, too. But the key for us was to stay patient. At halftime, we told the girls to relax and to focus on doing the same things they'd been doing all season.

"In that first half, we had plenty of possession, but we got frustrated and ended up rushing. In the second half, once we settled down, everything fell into place.''

Sophomore Emily Valli, the Bombers' top scorer, put the home team on top to stay when she converted a pass from Rebecca Malzahn about 3½ minutes after halftime. Less than three minutes later, Valli picked off a pass at midfield, weaved her way through the Markers' defense and scored again to make it 3-1.

"I think we just knew we were going to have to pick it up, and that's what we did,'' Valli said.

Charlotte Martin, Emily Smith and Barnell followed up with Burroughs goals, stretching the lead to 6-1 with 10:31 to play.

Nerinx (16-4) battled to the end, getting goals from Troy Cragen, Lauren Boland and Emily Behr to cut the margin to 6-4 with 2:01 left.

"We were worried, but we also had faith in (goaltender Christie O'Hara) and the defense,'' said Barnell, a senior captain. "And they came through for us.''

The runner-up finish is the third in a row for the Markers.

"It's getting a little bit old,'' said Markers coach Jody Patterson, whose team rallied from 7-3 halftime deficit to upend five-time state defending champion MICDS 9-8 in semifinal action Monday. "But hats off to Peter and the Burroughs program."