When Southern Lehigh senior Lauren Miller buried her fourth goal of the game with 2:50 remaining, and the Spartans won the ensuing faceoff holding an 8-6 lead, it felt like that would be the final act of a captivating girls lacrosse matchup between two of the area’s top teams.
However, Nazareth wasn’t content with a hard-fought loss.
The Blue Eagles regained possession with just over a minute on the clock and proceeded to score three goals in the final 39 seconds to come from behind for a 9-8 victory over the Spartans on Tuesday night at Southern Lehigh Middle School.
“Definitely a bit anxious,” junior Kherington Smith said of the emotions in the final minute. “But, I just had faith in my team knowing that we could get it done and we did.”
Freshman Natalie Mihalko cut the deficit in half on a free position with 39 seconds left, earned and buried another after Smith won the ensuing draw control and junior Morgan Koch paid off another win by Smith with a game-winning goal with 10 seconds remaining. All three goals came from free positions in a 29-second span after the Blue Eagles failed to convert on their previous five opportunities.
“Taking a deep breath and knowing that my teammates have my back really helped me out,” Koch said. “There’s always a little bit of doubt, but I think just going in, you have to have confidence to know that you can finish.”
Mihalko’s composure on the previous two attempts also provided some inspiration as Koch stepped up to complete the dramatic comeback.
“She has such a great intensity, and I think it really rubs off on the rest of our teammates and really pumps us up,” Koch said.
The star freshman entered the contest on an absolute tear with 29 points in three Nazareth victories over Allentown Central Catholic, Emmaus and Freedom, which translated to some early confidence for the rest of the Blue Eagles as well.
Parker Golden needed just 54 seconds to score the game’s opening goal and less than a minute after that, Mia Pulliam and Keeley Kershner tripled the early lead to put Nazareth ahead 3-0 with 10:08 remaining on the first quarter clock. A fourth straight goal was overturned when Mihalko stepped into the crease on a free position, and Southern Lehigh’s Leah Colley capitalized on the other end with a goal to make it 3-1 late in the quarter.
Nazareth’s quick-strike offense struck again as Smith raced down the field after a draw control to reestablish the team’s three-goal advantage with only seven seconds left in the opening quarter.
It took 17:17 for the Blue Eagles to score again.
Miller pulled the Spartans within one during Nazareth’s scoring drought with a pair of goals in the second quarter, helping to make up for the loss of star attacker Alli Denzel who was disqualified in the first half for two yellow cards on dangerous follow-throughs. The five-time defending district champions turned to Miller with the area’s top point-scorer on the bench for the rest of the game.
The senior delivered with a game-high four goals, including a game-tying finish from a free position with 13 seconds left in the third quarter. It was the third in a run of five consecutive goals for the Spartans who flipped a 6-3 deficit into an 8-6 lead that looked like it was going to be enough to escape with their biggest win of the season.
Nazareth freshman goalie Macey Tonkay, who posted a career-high 13 saves, was a big reason why the Blue Eagles even had a chance to mount a comeback in the final minute. Many of those stops came from Southern Lehigh free positions as Tonkay denied six in a row at one point to keep her team within striking distance.
“I definitely pride myself on being good at free positions. I’ve always found myself to be pretty good at them,” Tonkay said. “I was just very focused and giving it my all, all the time.”
With a talented, young goalie like Tonkay and the memory of such an improbable comeback to look back on, the Blue Eagles should have plenty of confidence from losing positions as the season continues as well as their push for the school’s first district championship since 2012.
“I think there was doubt at some points, but as a team, we know we’re a super strong, competitive group,” Mihalko said. “And we have so much faith in our defense and goalie getting stops, and on offense, we just trust in all of our offensive threats to know that we can score. There was definitely some doubt, but in the end, we knew we could come out with the win.”
Up next
Nazareth (9-1) takes the momentum from a fifth consecutive victory into Thursday night’s contest against Saucon Valley (3-4) while Southern Lehigh (6-3) aims to bounce back with a trip to Liberty (6-4) on Thursday.
Derek Bast is a freelance sports reporter who can be found on Twitter/X at @derek_bast or reached by email at derekbast11@gmail.com.