May 20, 2007
High school girls lacrosse championship
Park Tudor can't match
Culver's seniority
By Kristen Leigh Porter
Culver Girls Academy beat host Park Tudor 13-6 in Saturday's title game to cap championship weekend of the Indiana High School Women's Lacrosse Association state tournament.
Defending champ Park Tudor graduated 12 seniors from last season, 10 who were significant contributors. Last year, Park Tudor beat Culver 7-6 in the semifinals.

"I really didn't know where we'd be at the beginning of the season, so I really give them a lot of credit," Park Tudor coach Candi Parry said. "We have some freshmen and some sophomores starting and a lot of juniors who are key contributors. It was really up to them how far they wanted to take this team."

Attacker Danielle Mac Innes -- one of this season's four seniors -- had four goals and an assist in the championship game. Junior Alyssa Johansen and sophomore Sara Johnson also scored.

Culver (20-1) remained undefeated in the state of Indiana, and handed Park Tudor its only two losses.

Key to the title win was the play of goalie Mary Saran and fellow seniors Natalie Lister (four goals, one assist) and Marisa Gilmore (three goals, one assist) as Culver dominated possession.

Said Culver coach Kristen Corrigan: "In years past, you always had that one star, and this team wasn't like that, so they were forced to work together and trust each other. It made all the difference."

In the consolation game, South Bend St. Joseph's defeated Zionsville 5-3 despite two goals from Camilla Sutherland and one from Alex Roth, both Eagles seniors.

Zionsville coach Leslie Sherman, who led the Eagles to the 2005 state title, paraphrased Vince Lombardi's famous quote by telling her team that "winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is."

"I think . . . we really wanted to win and to me, that's how you should play high school athletics, because that's what carries you on further in life," said Sherman, whose team lost to Park Tudor in Friday's semis. "So I think that my team had that feeling, and that's really what embodies the spirit of what a champion is."

All-tournament players included Culver's Gilmore and Lister, Angela Carlson, Jill Eelman and Mary Wack; Park Tudor's Mac Innes, Johansen and Molly Pallman; St. Joe's Ashley Talley and Julie Watkins; and Zionsville's Camilla Sutherland and Lindsey Moosey. Culver's Saran was named all-tournament goalie.

First-team all-state attack picks included Lister, Mac Innes, Jordan Beauchamp (Hamilton Southeastern), Alison Doron (Zionsville), Lauren Hall (Cathedral) and Katie Mason (St. Joseph's/Marion). Defense and midfield selections were Moosey, Pallman, Lauren Cascio (Brebeuf Jesuit), Lindsey Gysin (Noblesville), Megan Millard (Culver) and Elisabeth Patterson (Bishop Chatard), with Saran as first-team goalie.

Honorable mention all-state accolades went to Talley, Heidi Chen (Park Tudor), Sarah Feeley (Penn), Colleen Kelley (Cathedral) and Maggie Myers (Carmel). Corrigan was Coach of the Year.