The "comeback kids" did it again. Liz Zatalava scored the go-ahead goal off a free position shot with 1:34 remaining in regulation as the Rising Sun girls lacrosse team topped host Elkton 12-11 Monday afternoon, April 25. The Elks led 8-4 with about 15 minutes left when the Tigers mounted the kind of comeback to which they've become accustomed. What is it about those last 10 minutes? "That's what coach (Becca Guethler) says," Zatalava said. "There's some stereotypes going on with our past three games, cause under 10 minutes, something about the last 10 minutes, we always come back. It's better than losing." Without a scoreboard, Zatalava didn't realize her goal and given Rising Sun a lead. "I didn't actually know the score at the time," she said. "But I couldn't have done it without my teammates. They were there. They knew that I could do it. They had confidence in me." With time winding down, Zatalava headed toward the goal and drew a foul. "I had no idea so I kind of went at it," she said. "Then I looked at the ref and said, 'Do you know the score?' And he said, 'As a matter of fact, I don't.' Until somebody said we were winning by one at the timeout, I was like, 'What? Did I really just score that?' " Known more for using her stick skills and 5-11 frame to her advantage, it's rare for Zatalava to score off a free position opportunity. "Most of mine are crease rolls and that's cause I'm so tall, but when I get a free position I know what to do," Zatalava said. "You just shoot it fast and aim low." Three of Zatalava's four goals came in the second half. "At halftime, or a little bit after, coach pulled me out and said, 'What's going on, Liz?'" Zatalava recalled. "And I said, 'I really don't know.' And she was like, 'Well, I want you to go out there in a couple minutes and play like the Liz Zatalava I know.' I came up to her after the game and said, 'Did I do that?' and she said, 'Yes'." Zatalava and Logan Alexander each finished with four goals. Lorrie Bowman, Heather Amos, Kaitlyn Shivery, and Maggie Palfi each added a goal. Emily Fanning handed out an assist. Rising Sun got some revenge for an overtime loss to the Elks earlier this season and another heartbreaking defeat last year. For Elkton, Erin DePaul and Maura Muldoon each collected three goals and an assist. Angel Lowe tallied twice and Julia Matsen, Serafina DeJesus, and Anna Wolf each chipped in a goal. The Tigers led 3-1 before Elkton reeled off four straight goals. Ahead 5-4 at halftime, the Elks scored the first three goals of the second half to take an 8-4 advantage. Just as Rising Sun isn't sure why they finish strong, they don't know why they start slowly. "We have had the weekend off so that also could've been a factor," said Zatalava. "But also the fact that it takes a while for us to get more confident with each other. Even coach Becca said, when we get more confident, you can tell, because we don't even hesitate about our passes, we just pass it." Guethler is also at a loss to explain the lackadaisical beginnings. "To be honest, I don't really know," she said. "I think a lot of it has to do with where they're at the the game at that point. But, the time is ticking away. There's only so much time left so that they can make it up. When you start a game, you're like, 'Oh, well the whole first half to do this. I have the whole second half to do this. Well, when it comes down to the last 10 minutes, that's all you have, the last 10 minutes. For a lot of these girls, it's the last time they're going to play Elkton, and it's a big game for them, in their minds, so a lot of them showed up, and I'm proud of them." Before the Tigers turned it on, Guethler was exasperated with their sluggish play. She laughed when told after the game that she used the phrase, "Holy guacamole" during a timeout. "My coaching strategy is not to yell and scream," she said. "It's really just to encourage them to play the way that they know how to play. So I think that my tone in our timeout really showed them that yeah, we're screwing up. We have to pick up on our mistakes. It's always the basics, catching. It was passing. And that was really it. They do all the hard stuff great. It's just those tiny little things." Trailing 8-4, the Tigers tallied three goals in a row and ramped up their intensity on defense. "Defense, really a lot of times, gets overlooked, in my opinion," Guethler said. "They're scrappy. They fight hard. And they're the ones that really transition that ball up field. And they know if they're not going to do it. it's going to end up in a goal for the other team. So for them, I think we hold them to a high standard and they also hold each other to a high standard. And I know that it was such a close game at that point, we were telling them to spread out, play hot on those players. Again, I think it all comes down to just like their mental ability, because it is physical lacrosse." After DePaul scored to put Elkton ahead 9-7, Alexander and Zatalava scored to tie it with 6:23 left. Wolf and Lowe answered to restore the Elks' two-goal edge before Rising Sun responded with two in a row to forge another headlock with 2:41 remaining. A little more than a minute later, Zatalava scored what proved to be the game-winner. Elkton had a couple opportunities to net the equalizer, but goalie Kelsey Perkins made a big save and the Elks committed an illegal screen penalty. Guethler says her squad is too talented to fall behind every game. "They're so good," she said. "You see moments of excellence. It's like ok, when you have the whole entire field and the whole entire game prior to that, and then in the last 10 minutes, you have to make up that big gap. It's just silly. It's silly." She also subscribes to the theory, "better late than never". "I would rather they finish strong rather than start strong and get weaker as the time progresses," said Guethler. "I think we can dub Rising Sun lacrosse as the comeback kids. I really think that that suits them." Photos from the JV game
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